ProblemPoint! (au-story)
by Physik Lily
Summary: A story following my undertale-au(ProblemPoint) Kinda follows Frisk's journey but with more backstory/details. A story that highlights the fact that everyone has something "wrong" with them, & overcoming it. With little to no ships, very few real curse words, plenty of fluff, sad backstories, and character development? Gender neutral Frisk (they are also blind & mute) (T for blood)
1. Chapter 1: Escape

Sup, this is just a story for my au (ProblemPoint) you can check it out at: problempoint-undertale-au (tumblr )

Undertale was created by Toby Fox; if you do not know what happens, you should play the game before reading this, as it may contain spoilers

The only thing I own is my writing and my variations to these characters

(This is a story that kinda follows the storyline of the game, but I tend to go into detail, and probably will contain some fluff)

 **This will most likely contain spoilers!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Escape**

Frisk ran, sprinting as fast as they could, their bare feet pounding against the rough grass. They could hear shouts behind them, they ignored the yells, their lungs burned, the spring air was still a bit chilly and it wasn't very pleasing as it scraped across their throat.

Frisk swallowed, their mouth dry, and forced themselves to keep going. Their fingers wrapped around the hard plastic disk that they held, gripping it so tightly that it was painful. Just when they thought that they couldn't run anymore, they suddenly felt the ground cool beneath their feet.

After pausing to listen for their chasers, they grinned, no longer able to hear their voices, Frisk assumed that they had given up. Relaxing, they panted and took a break to catch their breath. The air smelled like it does after it rains, Frisk loved that earthy smell.

Continuing forward at a considerably slower pace, Frisk smiled, feeling the long, cool grass beneath their toes and the shade touching their face, they knew that they had reached the mountain. Running their fingers over the object that they were holding, they grinned. The familiar spool shaped piece of metal with several bumps upon it was cool, even after all that running. After checking that the small comb-like piece was still in place, they flipped the disk over locating the t-shaped knob. After winding it up for a while Frisk placed the disk in their pocket, patting it for good measure, and grinned as they heard the familiar tune fill the air.

With both hands free, Frisk held their arms in front of them, zombie style, to avoid bumping into the tall trees who were absent on the prairie. Even after such a run, Frisk felt oddly at peace as they navigated. They had caught their breath, the trees were sheltering, and a thin, yet soothing melody was being plucked from their pocket as they walked.

They couldn't help it, their memories gushed back to them like running water.

...

 _Frisk's tongue poked out of their mouth a bit as they concentrated, the hand gripping the pencil trembled with effort. When they felt satisfied with their work, they handed their paper to an older woman with wispy hair trapped in a loose bun._

 _"I'm done Ms. Scott!" They proceeded to trace into their teacher's open palm._

" _Good job, Frisk" She replied warmly, turning her attention to the paper that she was just handed. She smiled; the scribbles were neater than normal which was pretty impressive since Frisk couldn't see the paper which she had written on. She proceeded to read the question out loud and laughed._

 _((Why are cats scared of cucumbers?))_

" _I don't know" She winked "I don't find them that_ _ **Cucumbersome**_ _to hug"_

 _Frisk's face broke into a wide grin as they traced their response into Ms. Scott's hand "I know, I find them quite_ _ **Cutecumber"**_ _Ms. Scott snorted, and after a flurry of veggie and cat related puns, she tucked Frisk into their cot._

" _Night little one" She smiled at the fact that the child had already fallen asleep and sighed, puns always seemed to distract children from their hardships, but they wouldn't work forever…_

 _..._

" _What do you mean you aren't going to teach her how to sign?!" an angry voice shouted from the headmaster's office._

" _I simply mean that there is no need" Ms. Scott replied calmly "Since Frisk can't see to respond, it will not benefit them in the long run. They can communicate in other ways rather well since they are quite fluent with the alphabet."_

" _Do you think that I care!?" The rather overweight man was basically screaming, his face was ruddy with rage, "No one is going to adopt some blind, mute, deaf little girl who doesn't even know sign language!"_

 _Ms. Scott sighed, her patience was about to run out, Frisk wasn't deaf, but she didn't think that correcting this sleazebag would change anything. "I don't care how it looks on your_ _records,_ _what Frisk honestly needs is to learn Braille, but let me guess,_ _you don't have the funding_ _. So you need to shut up! They are doing the best they can in this garbage dump you call an orphanage! And don't even get me started on misgendering people!"_

" _Why you!" The headmaster sputtered in rage "Don't talk to me like that woman!"_

 _Ms. Scott stood up "If you think that you can treat me like some inferior creature just because of my gender, you are highly mistaken" When she reached the door, she turned back to face the man "I hope you realize that you cannot get rid of me, I am legally obligated to make sure that the children here are safe, they are not just a way for jerks like you to make money. Let me give you your_ _only_ _warning, if conditions here worsen, I will make sure that you get shut down, that is all." And with that, the door slammed closed on a_ _very_ _upset (to say the least) headmaster._

* * *

Thanks for reading! No promises, but I should be updating regularly this month

Ms. Scott is a random character I made up on the spot b/c I needed a human motherly character for Frisk

Frisk is gender neutral/ agender here (sorry if I accidentally slip in a her/she, it's very hard to shake your habits)

Chapter length thoughts? I could probably make them longer/shorter

UwU PhysikLily

'


	2. Chapter 2: Melody

**Chapter 2- Melody**

"So, you mute or something?" The kid sneered as he scrubbed, the sponge let out a squishing sound as it was pressed against the peeling wall, the water dripped onto the tile floor.

"She probably just wants attention" an older kid snickered as he mopped the floors.

Frisk ignored them as they dipped their sponge into the bucket of cold, soapy water. It was Sunday, cleaning day at the orphanage, and the headmaster was in an especially bad mood, which meant, of course, more scrubbing. Lifting the sponge back out, Frisk grimaced as a stream of cold water rolled down their fingertips and into their sleeves.

"Yo, you sure she isn't deaf too?" the younger kid called to the mopper*, wiping his wet hand on his rumpled sweater.

"Nah" The taller kid called back, his voice was faint as he mopped the other end of the hallway.

The shorter kid grew impatient and bored as he watched Frisk roll up their sleeves nonchalantly. "Come on respond! I'm talking to you!"

Frisk sighed as they continued to ignore the kid shouting in their ear, rubbing their fingers together, they could tell that their digits were wrinkly from scrubbing for so long, in fact, they were kind of numb. They knew that the headmaster expected everyone to help out, but as far as they could tell, this was kind of pointless, it wasn't as if they could actually see what they were clean- Frisk flinched as an arc of cold water hit their face, shocking them out of their thoughts. "Bleh!" They spat out soapy water as they flung their sopping sponge toward the sound of giggling. After a couple more splashes, Frisk was laughing as well, they couldn't help it, laughter was contagious. Soon the floor was covered in a sheet of soapy water as more children ran to join the fun. So, it was only to be expected, that by the time the headmaster had come in red faced, all of the children were soaked to the bone, but laughing as they skidded around the halls.

That night, they all had air sandwiches for dinner, but the kids didn't care, it had been the most fun that they had experienced for a while now, and it was worth missing a meal for.

* * *

"Come in" Ms. Scott beckoned toward the young boy standing in the doorway. The kid shuffled awkwardly into the room, his messy hair matched the rumpled striped sweater that he wore. "Was there something that you wanted to say to Frisk?" She prodded.

Frisk glanced up from the round globe that they had been playing with at the sound of their conversation. They had been in bed sick the whole morning and it was relieving to hear a new voice after a couple seemingly endless, stifling hours of mathematics with Ms. Scott.

"Uhhhmmm" The kid mumbled as he looked up "I j-just wanted to say that I-I'm sorry for getting you sick! I didn't know… s-so get better okay?"

With that, he dashed out of the room before Frisk could stop him. Ms. Scott turned to Frisk with an amused expression, mind telling me about that?"

Frisk fidgeted with their fingers for a while before tracing, "Well… he started a water fight yesterday while we were cleaning the orphanage, just like every Sunday, and we all ended up soaked by the time the headmaster found out…" They giggled in remembrance, which led to a sneeze. Ms. Scott handed them a tissue and motioned for Frisk to continue. "It wasn't his fault that the water was cold though! Headmaster said it would be wasteful to clean with hot water."

Ms. Scott squeezed Frisk's hand gently, but if Frisk could see, they would have observed a dark flash pass over their teacher's eyes. "How about you get some fresh air? You can go talk to him outside, I have a feeling that you'll find him out back" she hinted. With that, the older woman lifted Frisk out of bed, bending down to hand them their shoes. Once she made sure that Frisk was properly bundled up, and armed with tissues, Ms. Scott handed Frisk the glass orb that they had been playing with earlier. Frisk looked up questioningly and Ms. Scott traced them a validation. Smiling, Frisk waved goodbye, hugging the cool globe as they carefully navigated out of the building.

The boy looked up as Frisk carefully shut the backdoor to the orphanage, the rusted hinges squealing in protest. "What as you doing outside? Aren't you sick?" a voice to the left exclaimed in a surprised tone. Frisk grinned, Ms. Scott always seemed to know where everyone was, sitting down on the grass next to him after a bit of navigation, they carefully placed the orb in their lap before taking the kid's hand. But before they could trace anything, he snatched his palm back. Frisk turned their head in his direction questioningly, was it because they were sick?

"W-what are you doing?" The boy sputtered, his voice raising an octave in surprise. Sighing, Frisk took the small notebook out of their back pocket and started to write.

((I'm trying to communicate, duh?))

Looking over their shoulder, he made out the messy sentence, he was surprised that the kid could write. "Ooohh, well you should've told me first!" he muttered a bit embarrassed. Frisk just turned toward the sound of voice, placing her hands on her hips, and waited, 1 minute, 2 minutes... "Ooohh, yeah, you can't… never mind" he sputtered.

Frisk giggled and wrote on, ((Don't worry, Ms. Scott isn't mad)). The boy breathed an exaggerated breath of relief causing Frisk to giggle harder.

After making sure that Frisk wasn't going to die on him, the boy turned his attention to the orb in their lap, "What's this?" he asked tapping on the glass causing a small ringing sound.

Frisk patted the orb which they had been resting their notebook on top of an smiled, they had almost forgotten about it. ((It plays music)) they wrote, setting the notebook aside after neatly sliding the short pencil into the wire binding to keep it safe. Picking the glass globe up, they felt around until their fingers found the t-shaped knob on the bottom. After carefully twisting the metal knob clockwise for a few rounds, Frisk let it go. They felt the boy beside them stiffen as the music suddenly began to sound through the air mid-song. Frisk smiled and leaned back to lie in the grass after setting the orb beside them. Some of the taller bits tickled their face as the slight breeze blew at the grass gently. The globe beside them plucked out a simple yet beautiful melody, making them feel at home. Even their stuffed nose couldn't keep them from enjoying this moment, they were glad that Ms. Scott let them bring it outside. Hearing a muffled thump beside them, they smiled, knowing that the boy had let the grass take him as well.

"It's nice" The boy mumbled, his voice sounding far away. Frisk grinned, the song always brought them nostalgia as well. And so, they lay in a companionable silence while the music washed over them.

* * *

Notes:

*a mopper is the right word for someone who mops, right? O-O

Anyways, more backstory, next chapter, I think I will change the Point of View to stuff in some more character development for Frisk

I think I'm starting to headcannon Frisk as more a-gender than gender neutral, idk :/

(when Frisk laughs/ giggles there is no sound, it's more like an action)

I don't think I'm going to give this boy a name, since I'm bad with names, and I don't really want him to become too important, more like an example that- you know what, I don't think I can say more about this without spoiling, maybe later O-O

I'm annoyed with the indents not staying in :( , so sorry for the formatting U-O

~PhysikLily UwU


	3. Chapter 3: The boy

(The boy's point of view)

When he saw the new kid, he groaned. Every time a new child arrived at the orphanage, it lowered chances of being adopted; then again, the boy wasn't sure if he wanted to be taken away. It wasn't as if he hadn't been in foster homes before, they always brought him back. This time, perhaps it would be more interesting he thought as he watched the child trudge up the path holding the hand of an older woman. He couldn't tell if the new kid was a boy or a girl, their coffee colored, bob-cut hair barely touched their shoulders; long bangs brushed the top of their closed eyes. He had heard the headmaster talking about bringing in a disabled kid to boost the pity factor, whatever that was, and the fact that the kid needed an aid proved his theory. Despite the cold air blowing through the open window, the children watched with curiosity as their new peer trampled the unshoveled path of snow leading up to the orphanage. There was a white dusting of snow across the kid's thin jacket, the white haired woman pulled the child along as they walked, leaving footprints behind them.

The child fidgeted as the headmaster spoke to the aid, things about papers and records, the other children had long since shut the window and were now peering at the exchange from the hallway. The boy was surprised when the new child glanced his way, their eyes were still closed. The white haired woman patted the kid's head and led the child toward the sweater room, the boy and the other children followed. They watched the ceremony with curiosity, which sweater would the child choose if they could not see? The boy watched as well, it was tradition after all, every child picked their sweater when they entered the place, it was a way for the headmaster to cheap out on clothes. The striped sweaters were all identical in design, a couple stripes across the body in a different color, and long sleeves that were removeable, allowing them to be worn during the warmer months. The aid sorted through the piles of sweaters, pulling out all the ones that would fit the child, narrowing the selection down to five options.

"Would you like me to pick you a sweater?" The woman asked as she shoved the rejected sweaters back into a large plastic tub. The child shook their head, feeling each sweater with their hand. The boy smirked in amusement, so the kid could hear; it wasn't a Helen Keller case after all. After a bit of deliberation the child picked out a sweater, the boy facepalmed, the periwinkle and magenta sweater. Just great. Absolutely perfect. He sighed, giving up on the gender mystery, the kid had long eyelashes, the kid was now a girl in his eyes.

…

The boy rubbed his face as he walked down the hallway, it had been a couple months since the blind kid had arrived and he still wasn't sure what to think of them. He had watched the kid walk down the halls side by side with the old woman who came every Monday. On Sundays, the kid even cleaned with the rest of the orphans. The smaller children loved her, they would laugh as they danced around in the field behind the house. The girl would sit and giggle silently as the children brought her clover flowers and dandelions. With a few deft twists of her fingers, a small pile of blossoms would turn into a flower crown. Often the children would dance around all day with their flower covered heads after waiting patiently in line.

One spring night, several children brought a lopsided crown of golden flowers over to where the girl was sitting, "It's for you" they smiled "we made it ourselves!" Frisk, he had since then learned the kid's name, placed the crown on her head and beamed. The children puffed up their chests in a proud manner and ran off to play. The boy looked up from catching fireflies and frowned, the shiny yellow flowers didn't suit her, he thought that she would look much better in red.

"Hey, bro! Come help us out!" an older boy called, jolting the kid out of his thoughts. In between cupping the small lights in his palms and feeling them tickle his fingers, he couldn't help but glance back at the girl. Despite looking uncomfortable, she wore the crown the whole night.

After the children were finished, their single glass jar was glowing with light, the night air was cool, and it brushed across their faces as they sat in the grass debating who caught the most lightning bugs. The smaller children even brought the jar over to where the girl sat to show her their treasure. She brushed her hand over the lid and her mouth dipped down a bit before she plastered on a smile and congratulated them. When they finally headed in, they placed the jar by the doorstep, the boy gave the fireflies one last glance, he knew that he wouldn't see their light again.

…

He heard the creak of a cot, his eyes flew open, squinting he watched a small shadow slowly make its way across the room. From the careful and slow way it moved, he could tell that it was the girl, who else would walk like Frankenstein? After she left the room, he heard rusted hinges squeak in protest as the backdoor to the orphanage opened. Wide awake, the boy slipped out of his cot, the tiles were cold beneath his bare feet as he made his way past the sleeping shapes of the other children and into the hallway.

The backdoor was propped open by one of the many fist sized chunks of concrete that could be found near the crumbling steps. The cool April night air drifted into the hallway, it smelled fresh, like the earth and freedom. After stopping to enjoy it for a moment, the boy peeked outside and stifled a squeak of surprise. The girl was holding the jar of fireflies, the green yellow light illuminated her hands and her eyes… wait, her eyes… they were open. The glowing bugs added brilliant highlights to their brown depths. The boy glanced down and sure enough, the jar of fireflies was no longer by the steps where the kids had left it. He watched the girl with confusion as she unscrewed the lid and unceremoniously dumped all of the small creatures out by tipping the jar upside down. Moments later, the lights started blinking through the air once more. The boy inched back as the girl walked carefully towards the back door, one arm cradling the jar, the other out for navigation. Her mouth formed a smirk as she reached the concrete, the boy took it was a sign to leave. Making it back to his cot safely, and a bit out of breath, his mind buzzed as he lay, staring at the ceiling.

It was the eyes, he couldn't stop thinking about the kid's eyes, they were so… well actually, they were normal, and that threw him off. He ran a hand through his tousled hair, he was so confused, he knew that the kid was blind, he had seem her trip countless times before, and there always seemed to be a bruise on their legs. Then why, why did they look so normal?! It was infuriating, he thought that blind people were supposed to have white soulless eyes! AND, she smirked at him! She knew he was there! Sighing he closed his eyes, what an atypical* kid.

…

(Switch to Frisk's point of view)

Frisk felt the night air brush across their skin as they held the cool glass jar. The breeze was slightly chilly, sending a wave of goose bumps across their limbs. Their fingers stung as they untwisted the lid, Frisk sighed, it may have been a bad idea, wearing the flower crown for so long, especially knowing what flowers it was made of. Dumping the contents of the jar into the grass, the child headed back toward the door carefully, nodding to themselves as they felt the grass give way to overgrown concrete. Hearing a movement, Frisk raised their head and smirked, it was the other child. One of the older ones, Frisk could tell by the sound of the footsteps as the other retreated. The child holding the now empty jar reached the steps and after scoping out the spot, they returned the jar to its former place. Frisk reached out to make sure that the smooth unpunctured lid was sealed tight and sighed. The skin on their forehead burned where the flowers had touched it, Ms. Scott was definitely going to notice. The soft wind did nothing to abate** the burning sensation, but the child sat there on the cold steps anyways. It was a rare moment of tranquility. No, it wasn't quiet, the crickets chirped and the cicadas droned, but it was calming all the same.

* * *

(notes)

The pronouns changed because that was how the boy thought of Frisk. When other characters speak, they use whatever pronouns they wish. I doubt the kids at the orphanage know about complicated gender identities x-x

I was told to expand my vocabulary… here are the new words this week O-O:

*atypical means not ordinary

**abate means to lessen/ reduce

I absolutely abhor the formatting on here :[

Included a bit more history on Frisk's sweater

I think my headcanon is that the boy is older that Frisk by around 2-3 years, leading to a big brother relationship :D

Oh man, was this all fluff? Eh, a bit :v

Stuff should heat up next chapter c;

(p.s. can you guess what flowers the flower crown was made of? Ow)


	4. Chapter 4: Run!

Chapter 4: Run

Death warning! (not too graphic)

(The boy's point of view)

The boy opened his eyes slowly, then blinked with surprise. The sun was already setting, its rich golden rays blending into the darkening blue sky. The western horizon was a watercolor of oranges, reds, and purples. The music had long stopped playing but the boy still heard it echoing in his head. Glancing over to where the girl lay playing with blades of grass, he sat up. "You ready to go inside?" he asked.

((Sure)) Frisk wrote, dropping the grass to scrawl him the message before tucking the notebook back into her pocket. After helping her up, the boy bent down to retrieve the snow globe. He took one last look at the golden creature inside of it before passing it to Frisk. He couldn't quite tell what the statue was supposed to be, but the golden paint on the creature's horns was beginning to wear off, revealing grey metal underneath. The boy would ask Frisk, but she probably didn't know that the figurine existed, let alone what it was.

As they headed inside the breeze seemed to still, the boy raised one eyebrow before he closed the backdoor, the rusted hinges letting out a haunting screech.

Perhaps the world was holding its breath. Waiting.

…

(Narrator's point of view)

 _Voices yelling, drawers slamming,_

 _Sounds echo down the halls,_

 _The children are asleep, mostly._

 _Hands smack wood, arguments_

 _Shuffling of feet, shifting of glass._

 _A dull thud._

 _Shattering…_

 _Silence._

…

The man breathed heavily, lowering his arm. He had won, there would be no more nagging, threatening, no need to sign any documents.

Fingers trembling, he picked up his phone, he knew a guy who could clean up the mess quietly.

Outside, the wind picked up, howling, as inside a man's eyes gleamed.

…

(The boy's point of view)

It was foggy, the grey wisps blocked the sun, but it couldn't hide everything. The coffin was like a dark stain against the road as it traveled by, "heart attack" the headmaster told them. This wasn't good. "Is Ms. Scott dead forever?" a little kid asked rather loudly.

A jarring *CRASH* sounded behind the small crowd that had gathered around the windows. The boy turned around, seeing who it was, he grimaced. This _really_ wasn't good.

Frisk stood in the doorway, eyes widening and shoulders shaking, the remains of the snow globe at her feet. The boy turned away from the others and made his was over to the girl, carefully avoiding the larger pieces of glass that desperately cradled small puddles of water in their curves. Pausing, he gingerly picked up a single disk shaped piece of the broken globe and slipped it into his pocket before reaching Frisk. Frowning, he carefully picked the kid up princess style, managing to only flinch a little when she grabbed a fistful of his sweater. When the boy reached the bathroom that all the orphans shared, he tried to deposit Frisk onto the countertop, it took a bit of convincing. Taking out a towel after a pause, he soaked it with cold water and carefully wiped off Frisk's tears after wringing it out.

"You got yourself pretty bad there" he forced a small laugh, as he noticed the glass splinters in her legs where the ricocheting pieces had hit. He flinched as the kid grabbed his hand.

((I-is Ms. Scott really…?)) With a bit of concentration, the boy made out the question behind the shaky tracing, looking up, he saw that tears were sliding down her face again, leaving dark splotches on her sweater. Retrieving his hand, the boy fetched a wad of toilet paper for the kid to blow her nose and switched the subject.

"I'll be right back, I need to get a pair of tweezers to pull out the glass, don't move okay?"

…

(Frisk's point of view)

Frisk felt numb, their legs were freezing but at least they couldn't feel the glass scratches. Hot tears splashed down from their eyes, even closing the lids wouldn't stop the steady stream. Blowing their nose, Frisk leaned back against the cracked mirror. Trembling fingers curled in their lap, they had barely felt the glass orb slip out of their grasp. Ms. Scott had said that it was an heirloom, she was going to be so… she was…

Shoulders shook as silent sobs wracked the small figure, they knew what the older boy's silence meant. Swiping a sleeve across their face, they watched the colors behind their closed eyelids blur and dance.

And after a while, fade.

…

(The boy's point of view)

"Hey Frisk! I'm back, sorry it took so-"The boy's eyes widened as they had a brief [are they dead?!] moment before checking for a pulse and relaxing. "Heh, just asleep" Well, it was for the best, this is going to hurt, opening the bottle of rubbing alcohol, the boy frowned in concentration. He fetched the damp cloth from earlier and gave it a hearty splash of the disinfectant before pulling out the tweezers.

The kid would be okay… probably…

…

"It's for you" he said as he handed Frisk the black plastic disc. She turned it over in her hands before looking up questioningly. "It's the bottom of the snowgl- I mean the glass orb" he corrected himself. It had taken quite a while to remove the remaining glass and wood from the disc, but he figured that Frisk would like to have it. "That's the part that makes the music" at another confused look he explained further. "Do you see umm, feel the sideways spool with bumps on it? Well those bumps are the song! When you turn the knob, it makes the spool turn, causing the bumps to hit the comb, letting out notes…" he trailed off as he watched Frisk locate the familiar knob and realize that it was indeed part of Ms. Scott's heirloom. The girl gave it a few twists and gasped in delight as the song began to play. The boy was relieved to see her smile, it had been a week since the burial and Frisk finally seemed to be okay. The glass wounds had closed and she didn't cry anymore, though sometimes, he caught her wandering listlessly through the field behind the orphanage.

…

(Narrator's POV)

 _The man jolted awake, sweat on his brow._

 _Nightmares love creatures with more LV after all_

 _He couldn't take it anymore,_

 _Night after night,_

 _Dream after dream._

 _It HAD to stop…_

 _His eyes widened as a maniacal grin stretched across his face. He remembered._

 _There was one thing, one thing the old lady left here, one untidy detail_

 _The kid._

 _Laughing to himself, the man reached into his pocket_

 _A metallic gleam was reflected by the moon._

…

" _Come here, kiddo"_

 _Shared glances, anxious look_

 _Into the office, a darker patch on the carpet goes unnoticed._

 _Door closes._

 _Sits on the edge of the chair_

 _Waits,_

" _Leaving" "Pack your things" "Goodbyes"_

" _Just fill out these forms"_

 _Fingers press into the rim of a plastic disc_

 _Shaky breath,_

 _Lifts pen,_

 _Obeys_

…

(The boy's POV)

The boy's eyes widened as he heard the sentence through the weathered door, why was she being sent away? Perhaps she needed a new aid, if so, he couldn't understand why the aid couldn't come here.

He could imagine Frisk bending over the forms and pretending to read them for a few moments in exasperation. The boy facepalmed, hearing the headmaster get up from his chair, he decided to help. If the headmaster got mad, the boy would take the punishment.

Pushing the door open quietly, he stopped.

The boy's eyes widened.

He sprang into action as his mind put together the pieces. Dashing into the room, he pulled Frisk out of her chair, causing her to almost drop the disk as they sprinted toward the door. Ignoring Frisk's confused look, he shoved her out of the office "Run! We have to go!"

The headmaster cursed as he spotted the movement a second too late,lunging, he swiped with his knife before both of the kids could escape the office, it made contact with the boy's back. The kid stumbled but he didn't fall. The man creature wheezed as he chased the agile children down the halls, his corpulent* physique didn't help with the chase. The creature did not give up, the boy had seen too much and he was still after the girl. The creature cursed as he is heard the backdoor squeal shut, the other brats were outside. Quickly dropping the red tipped knife into a fake plant, it followed.

…

(The boy's POV)

The boy gasped as a searing pain burst through his back, he kept running. There was only one way left to go. Out. Bare feet slapping on tile, the children ran. "He's going to kill you" the boy managed to squeeze out as he pushed open the backdoor and led Frisk out onto the cement steps. The back of his shirt was starting to stick to his skin, he kept running.

"Don't ask me how I know, but I have a feeling he did something bad" he coughed, pulling her forward onto the grass. A curse word erupted behind them as they reached the open meadow. "You have to run, I'll buy you some time" he gasped as he gently pushed her ahead of him. If he couldn't run anymore, he could at least help her a bit. Frisk gave him a slight nod and he turned her to face the right direction. "The land's flat for a long time, go to the mountains and hide, you know that the headmaster won't go there." Gasping for breath, he turned around.

The girl ran. The boy turned back. And the creature advanced.

The other children paused their game and stared as the loaf-like being trudged after two of their peers.

"Get out of the way you brat!" The creature snarled, its face ruddy from excursion.

"Never! I know you're a killer!" The boy spat back, he could barely feel his lower half, at least he couldn't feel the pain.

The creature tried to push past him, the boy grabbed its arm, biting down hard. Hissing in pain, it smashed its fist into the boy's face, the kid crumpled. Glancing down with distaste, it ground its shoe into the kid's arm, after hearing a sickening crack, the creature Thing headed after the other child.

…

"Are you okay?" a little kid asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, we called 911!" another voice chimed.

The boy's head rung with sounds, his arm was definitely broken. A lightning bolt of pain tore through his head every time he tried to move. Despite that he managed a small smile before the world faded. Despite everything, he would never regret meeting her. Never regret helping her.

…

(Frisk's POV)

Frisk ran.

Pushing the confused thoughts out of their head was hard, they knew that they were missing something, but they trusted the boy. They had no reason not to.

His last words to them echoed through their head.

So the blind child ran.

Clutching the last memory of their mentor to their chest,

They ran.

Even after the Thing gave up,

They ran on.

* * *

(Notes)

Did you enjoy the sudden turn of events? Next chapter will be back to the present/ the forest :D

*Corpulent: fat, chubby, etc.

Did you know that blind people don't see a void, they see colors, it's cool so I included the little bit of info UoU

The origin of the music disk/machine thing was revealed as a kid I broke one and found out that only a small piece makes the actual music :0

So many POVs x-x hope I didn't confuse you ^w^

This was the longest chapter yet, rip pens.

This was so hard to write, rip, I'm bad at writing sad things, which is probably not a good thing for this series x-x

~PhysikLily UwU


	5. Chapter 5: Fallen

**Chapter 5: Fallen**

(Frisk's p.o.v) (Back to present)

The music came to a halt and Frisk pulled the disc out of their pocket to rewind the knob. After quite a few twists of their wrist, to ensure that it would play for a while, Frisk placed it back into their pocket. It was a bit uncomfortable, as the metal ridges pressed into their leg, but it didn't really matter since the song still played and there was no way that they could traverse the dense forest while holding it.

After tripping for the third time, Frisk sighed and brushed off their stinging knees. They really needed a better way to navigate through the trees. After checking to make sure that the disc was still in their pocket, Frisk felt around for a stick or some sort of branch to extend their reach with. The forest floor beneath their wandering fingers was rough with patches of soil and grass, interlaced with thick tree roots. Digits closed upon small twigs every now and then, but none of them were sturdy enough. Finally, after a while of searching, near the base of a tree, Frisk's hand closed upon a branch around half of their height. Brushing the dirt granules off of their shins, they stood up and gave the tree a quick hug before continuing up the mountain side. The kid wasn't exactly sure where they were going, but for now, up seemed to be the right choice. The stick didn't _really_ help with navigation, but it did make Frisk feel better about being out in the wild by themself.

After a while, they could feel their long, untidy bangs begin to stick to their face from perspiration. The air was beginning to get humid even though the forest floor was still cool under foot. A few times, Frisk heard a loud buzzing shoot by and there was an almost constant chatter of birds coming from the treetops. Near the orphanage, there was almost never any wild life since the pollution and humans drove everything away nearly everything.

A loud, distant rumbling brought Frisk's thoughts back to the present and they lifted their land upward with concern. No raindrops touched their palm, but their brows still furrowed worriedly. The air was getting cooler, a sign that rain was on the way. Frisk kept going, they needed a place to hide out if it started pouring, perhaps an overhang or something. Being stuck on the mountain with a cold would not be good. As the child stumbled into a small clearing, they felt a drop splash onto their head, flinching from the rain's cold touch, their shoulder brushed against a tree- wait, no it wasn't a tree. Running their fingers against the surface revealed it to be stone. The cool rock was covered in patches of moss, but it was still identifiable. Was it an overhang?

Frisk moved their hand over the surface and was surprised to find that the rock wall was only a few feet across. Their eyes widened as they walked a few feet across from the mossy rock to find a similar stone structure. No way, was it? The raindrops were coming down more frequently now and the child felt the drops splatter on their hair. There was only one way to find out, right?

Taking a deep breath, Frisk stepped in between the two rock walls and grinned as they felt the rain stop hitting their head, so it was a cave after all.

Frisk paused for a moment in the mouth of the cave, straining their ears; they listened intently for a sign that they were sharing the shelter with a bear. Hearing nothing, the child allowed themself to relax and listen to the calming pitter-patter of rain. The familiar earthy scent wafted through the air mixing with the ancient smell of the cave. Pulling out the disc, they gave it a couple of absentminded twists, and as the tinkling melody cut through the air, Frisk gripped the last piece of the heirloom blankly. The ricocheting rain droplets splattered their bare feet and legs, sending a wave of goosebumps up their skin. The child shook themselves out of their daze and pocketed the music source, muffling the notes, but only slightly. As much as they hated admitting it, Frisk knew that it wasn't the best idea to stay near the entrance, turning toward the slightly warmer air of the inner cave, they started forward.

For some odd reason, the floor of the cave was laced in tree roots and vines. After checking, Frisk noted that they were still alive, strange. Bending down, the child ran their fingers along the base of the cave wall until they felt tree trunk. Frisk's eyes widened reflexively as they realized, the rest of the tree was still outside! The roots had just forced their way into cracks in the stone as the tree grew, and now a whole part of the trunk resided in the cave. The cracks in the wall had widened as the tree got taller, now they were filled with mosses, lichens, and vines as the plants pushed into the space.

Gripping the stick once more, Frisk walked forward, the cave went on for a while. A small grin spread across their face as they realized, it must be really dark in here, and for the first time in a while, Frisk was glad they were blind. Where others could only see pitch blackness, the child was greeted with dancing amorphous* colors, even when their eyes were closed. It was a bit distracting sometimes, but they were used to it.

…

Frisk's brows lifted in curiousity, they had been walking for a while, but now they heard a buzz in their head, it was a strange but somehow familiar buzz, even the ground was faintly warm here. The vines were more common as well. It was strange, almost as if the child was imagining the sound, as if it was calling to them. Taking a deep breath, Frisk continued forward, they should check out the rest of the cave, just in case. They didn't want to be ambushed in their sleep after all.

…

They never saw the pit, why would they?

The vines seemed to reach for them. Catching their ankle.

The child fell, expecting to hit the ground,

They kept falling.

A silent scream as the pit caught them

They kept falling.

Unconsciously letting go of the stick as the buzzing got louder,

And louder, and louder,

It seemed to fill the cavern.

Stars burst in Frisk's head, the world seemed to flicker,

Then fade.

They kept falling.

From the darkness, a melody slowly came to a stop.

* * *

(notes)

Whew, finally the story is moving along :D I thought that I would be able to introduce a new character this chapter, but I enjoy details way too much X)

*Definition: Amorphous= without a clearly defined shape or form

Ahh, I'm in love with the panels from the intro of Undertale, the scenery is awesome UuU

I can't put links in here, but if you want to know how the disc looks, just google "Music box insides" The third pic is pretty on point c;

Baking is so hard, rip, I just made my 4th batch of failed cinnamon rolls yesterday X-x

Bleh, summer's almost over, so I might not be able to update this as frequently, but I'll try my best :D

Hope you enjoyed it!

~PhysikLily UwU


	6. Chapter 6: Hey

**Chapter 6: Hey**

Frisk moaned as they woke up, their whole body ached but strangely, they could still move all of their limbs. Sitting up, their fingers pressed against waxy petals, the flowers bent under their weight only to spring back the instant that it was lifted. Picking up a flower in one hand, the child counted the number of petals with their fingers… 5. Oh no, this wasn't good. Dropping the blossom, Frisk quickly rose to their feet, ignoring their protesting muscles, and took inventory. They had lost the stick in their fall, but that was okay, it hadn't really helped anyway. They should get off of this flowerbed as soon as possible.

Patting their front pocket almost unconsciously as they tried to remember what they had on them, they felt only fabric. Frisk paused, their core growing cold as they realized, shoving their hands inside both pockets, they felt only cloth. After checking the back ones as well, Frisk forced themself to calm down and think; the waxy blossoms underfoot seemed to get colder.

It must have fallen out of their pocket when they were falling! Frisk moaned, they were going to regret this later, but they couldn't lose the one thing left of their mentor. Taking a deep breath, the child got down on their hands and knees; they began combing through the field of cold flowers.

The blossoms and stems smacked at their face as they searched for their lost treasure. They had been scouring the area for a long time, the compact stems and leaves shielded the earth from searching fingers. Suddenly, Frisk felt dread weigh them down as they tilted their unseeing eyes upwards, no… what if?

Getting up and brushing off their aching knees, Frisk walked until they touched a wall. It was somehow warm, but the child still recognized the smooth feel of stone. A few thin vines grew up the sides, but the sheer rock face was free of any surface moss. A feeling of hopelessness engulfed them as they sank to their knees.

 _(What if it fell onto a ledge? This is a ravine after all. There's no way that I could climb up there, I don't even know where it is!)_

Frisk felt tears burn at their eyes, holding back the droplets only made the child feel worse, but they couldn't start crying. They wouldn't be able to stop. The human's shoulders shook-

"It's over there" the sudden voice jerked Frisk out of their thoughts, they swiped a sleeve across their eyes to soak up any escaped tears and turned around.

Tilting their head toward the voice, Frisk glanced up questioningly _(who are you? What are you talking about?)_ They couldn't help but think.

The voice seemed to sense the confusion because it proceeded to give directions. "You want to find the thing you dropped right?" at a nod from Frisk, the voice continued "Well then, turn to your left… no, your other left, okay, now, walk forward…"

The child in the periwinkle sweater followed the directions after only a moment of hesitation. The voice seemed amicable*; the sound was a higher pitch than the boy's, but it had a noticeable tint of sarcasm at times. Sarcasm, not ill intent, after a while at orphanages Frisk had learned the difference between the two. But their mentor always told her to find the best in people, the child could try.

After following the voice for a while, Frisk's foot bumped into a hard object, bending down and picking it up, they grinned broadly. Placing the disc back into their pocket extra snuggly, they pulled out their notebook that was rediscovered during their search as well as the pencil. They hadn't even noticed that they had dropped it until their fingers closed around the metal spiral binding.

"What are you doing?" The voice asked, Frisk held up the notebook toward the sound.

((Thank you))

A pause as the shaky writing is deciphered. "No problem! …Hey, by any chance are you blind?"

A silent moment. ((Yep, and mute, how did you know?))

"Well I mean it's kinda obvious, if you could see you would've found that thing a lot earlier" The voice snorted, the sarcasm is back. "You're a human right?"

((What else would I be?))

"Oh boy, you really don't know where you are?"

((Well I was running away, and then I fell… so not really?))

"Hmmm…" The voice paused to think for a little while before sighing "Would you like me to tag along? Looks like you could use some help and I know this place well."

((I could use a friend)) A happy smile as the message is read.

"Hehe" The voice giggled as they walked across the flowers together, the sound guided Frisk toward the entrance to the ruins. The child with the music disc smiled internally after they were told that the rock wall was too steep to climb up, it would be fun to have an adventure. They were in no hurry to return to the surface, especially if the headmaster was still after them.

Frisk brought out the music source as they walked and gave it a few turns. Their fingers were beginning to sting; it was only to be expected after their long search after all. The voice gasped a little at the melody, then grew silent; Frisk smiled at the reaction, and the two walked in tranquility for a while.

"What's your name?" The other asked as the music tapered off.

((Frisk)) The child wrote.

"That's a nice name" The voice said softly "Hey Frisk, it's nice to meet you" the words seemed to smile.

"I'm Chara"

It's good to be awake

* * *

Are you surprised? Well we can't have Frisk wandering around without a partner in crime can we? X)

*Definition: Amicable: Friendly

Writing this is forcing me to learn about grammar :p who knew writing fanfic was so educational? So far I have read up on it's vs. its, themselves vs. themselves, gender-neutral pronouns, and commas vs. semicolons! It's kinda confusing at times, but I think that it'll improve my writing :D

(key for this chapter: ( _italics)= Frisk's thoughts,_ "quotes"=Chara's words, ((double parentheses))= Frisk's writing)

I've dug out my old watercolors and it's been super fun so far ^w^ I've even had time to catch up on the latest SU episodes! (hey, fandoms can get along:)

As for Frisk's notebook, imagine one of those tiny ones, around the length of 3/4 your hand :D

Hope you enjoyed!

~PhysikLily UwU


	7. Chapter 7: Awake

**Chapter 7: Awake**

 _(A/N: Minor warning, words on Chara's corpse? Not graphic)_

(Chara's Point of view)

The years had passed by in almost a blur, a few times, a familiar twinge had pulled at the child's consciousness, but they slept on.

A haze-like state; summer, fall, winter, spring. No matter the season in the world above, the flowerpatch stayed in blossom. Grew on. As if trapped in a lost time.

The barrier in the cavern far above buzzed with a warm magical energy, and occasionally the child caught brief snatches of a flower-like creature speaking.

"Another one… almost free-ouch… Chara…"

The child did not understand, how did this creature know them? It was not long before the void-like trance captured them once again.

They did not know how long they slept, accompanying the flowers and their long overgrown body.

One day, they felt a tug, expecting it to fade like the others, the child was surprised. The sensation was much stronger than before; it seemed to pull at their soul insistently, expectantly. Sighing, the long buried child slowly opened their eyes.

They patted their face, the dark bandage still covered their left eye, thin wrapping still crawled up their fingers, and the golden locket still swung from their neck. Smiling a small smile, the long forgotten human sat up. They wondered how long it had been, were they a ghost?

The memories came flooding back, they remembered the plan; it had worked at first then… Asriel just _had_ to be such a sissy about it…

Sighing, the dead child stood up

 _I guess it may have been too much to ask of him… especially since-_

The child gasped, holding up a hand, they noticed for the first time that they could see through it slightly. Looking down for extra clarification, they bit back an excited shriek when they realized they were able to see the flowers underneath.

They _were_ a ghost!

Hearing a sudden rustling jolted the child out of their thoughts, turning around, the ghost child flinched.

A human was rustling through the flowers on their hands and knees- _a human_!

 _A HUMAN! Were there humans in the underground now? How long have I been gone? What are they doing?_

Upon closer inspection, it was concluded that the human was searching for something. The ghost child took a look around and quite easily spotted a foreign object, neatly tucked into a small space by one of the pillars.

 _I shouldn't help them, can I even hold stuff? It's a human! But it's only a kid. I was a kid when I fell down here. But humans are EVIL!_

As the ghost child argued with themselves, their hand drifted unconsciously to their sheath. Their fingers felt nothing. Glancing down, they scowled at the absence of their knife. The short leather sheath that was always strapped to their left leg was empty. Hissing in slight annoyance, the child shrugged; they weren't sure that they could harm living things anyways.

Pushing aside their flood of questions and inner bickering, the first fallen child took a moment to admire the human's fashion choices. The sweater was especially cool.

Watching the human for a while, the spectral child decided on the next plan of action. The human didn't seem to see the ghost- actually, the human didn't seem to see anything. They were searching with their eyes closed and it was taking them a painstaking amount of time to find the object. The ghost child tried to pick up the disk, their hand phased right through it. Concentrating, they managed to pick it up for a little while before it dropped again. Sighing, they gave up.

~O*O~

When the blue sweater clad child began to cry, the kid in green facepalmed and without thinking, snapped "It's over there!"

The human's head whipped towards Chara's direction and they wiped their tears away.

The spectral child was pleasantly surprised, so at least ghosts could talk to people.

Unfortunately, the human did not follow instructions, just tilted their head in confusion.

The ghost facepalmed, was this kid blind or just stupid? They proceeded to give the human instructions.

~O*O~

"So are you blind or something?"

Watching the kid take out a small notebook, the child with one stripe muttered a curse under their breath; this was going to be a long day.

After a short altercation* with themself about whether or not to ditch this miserable human, the child remembered when they first fell. _Asriel was there for me…_

They decided to help

~O*O~

The ghost child peered over the human's shoulder in curiosity as they wound up the strange object. When the notes began to shift through the air on silent wings, the child stiffened; the music was so beautiful, soothing… and so familiar. They felt as if they had heard it before, somewhere…

Letting the nostalgia was over them, the once-dead child walked in silence. Tilting their head, they gave the beautiful ancient pillars and stalactites of their resting place one last look.

The invisible barrier buzzed and hummed, even without sunlight, the place was warm. Even without sunlight, the wild grasses popped up across the rocky surface. Even without sunlight, the yellow flowers grew and grew and grew. The seeds that once sprouted from a long forgotten corpse grew into an invasion. The sunny plants now covered the entire plateau, crawling up the ancient pillars, crowding out the native plants; all the while shining brightly as if nothing was wrong.

Ripping a venomous gaze from the overgrown flowers, the child turned back toward the human.

"So what's your name?"

"That's a nice name"

"I'm Chara"

~O*O~

The child grinned,

Despite everything, it was still them.

So they guided Frisk toward the entrance to the ruins,

toward an adventure,

toward the future.

* * *

(Notes)

Some more in depth about Chara's introduction so you can better understand how they play a part in this story :D

In this fanfic, Chara is a bit like white text-chara, but not exactly. They are a guide to Frisk to keep them from having a bad time everyday; but more than that, they are a friend. (also adding a lot of room for _chara_ cter development O-)

*Definition: altercation- a noisy argument or disagreement (well, noisy in their head)

I didn't really want to use the name 'Chara' in this chapter a lot (idk, mystery) so if you could tell, I had fun with tons of random pronouns X)

(Here is a list of Frisk's relationships with characters so far: )

Frisk: Ms. Scott= daughter:mother/ pupil: teacher- Platonic

Frisk: the Boy= sister: brother- Platonic

Frisk: Chara= friend: friend/ sister:sister- Platonic

(Platonic Morailship for life)

Uhhggg, I hope I can write this with 2 children in it with they/them pronouns x-x

I think I like the idea of a no gender Frisk and a both genders Chara so that's what this shall be.

(Frisk doesn't care, and Chara is very vocal on it :D

Chara believes that they are a ghost.

This scene makes more sense if you are looking at the Undertale opening pics (not the actual game start where Frisk is in a tiny patch of flowers)

Speaking of flowers, everyone's favorite is coming soon :]

(p.s. if you are interested in SU, Pink Diamond, theories, and Rose Quartz, feel free to check out my one shot titled 'Code Diamond' OwO)

Til next time,

~PhysikLily UwU


	8. Chapter 8: Howdy

**Chapter 8: Howdy**

 _(A/N: I'm So sorry that I couldn't upload this yesterday X( I just moved to a new house and have not had time to set up the wifi, and just learned about mobile hotspots :0 enjoy :)  
_

As the two children walked through the archway, a slight breeze whispered through the air tugging at Frisk's shirt; as if it was urging the human back. An uneasy feeling fluttered in their stomach. After tilting their head upwards with a worried look, the human pressed on, they trusted the voice- no, they trusted Chara. Why wouldn't they?

The cold waxy petals were becoming less and less common as Frisk walked further into the room; patches of soft grass greeted their toes every now and then.

The human was unconsciously walking zombie style again to avoid smashing into any hard stone walls; unfortunately it made their progress quite slow.

"Do you have to look like the undead when you walk?" Chara grumbled following the human _(am I not undead enough for one adventure team?)_

Frisk sighed remembering that they had forgotten the stick in the-

The human didn't even hear the cut off greeting as they tumbled forward. Flinging out their hands, the child managed to deflect the brunt of the tumble before they smashed into the ground. Thankfully, the cold flowers caught their fall resulting in only minor injuries being added to their collection of bruises and scrapes.

Chara's eyes widened as the human tripped over the creature, they had been thinking about warning them. Too late now, they shrugged.

Before the green sweater clad child could check if their ward was okay, a flurry of curses ripped through the air.

Both children glanced toward the voice, heads tilted curiously.

Chara felt a strange wave of nostalgia wash over them was they watched the flower creature whip its head towards Frisk. Quietly they observed the interaction and admired the plant's impressive arsenal of swear words.

The human's reaction was rather different. Visibly cringing in response to the colorful language, Frisk turned to the foul mouthed creature with trepidation*.

"What's the deal kid?" the voice hissed in annoyance as the human turned to him. "Are you new to the underground or something? Well down here, you don't just trip over random people!"

Frisk's eyes widened out of reflex as the voice berated them, hands reaching for their notebook, they scribbled out an apology. _(Was a rock speaking to them?)_

((I'm so sorry! I didn't see you, are you okay?))

A pause, Chara watched the creature think for a moment before calming down enough to plaster a smile on its face.

"Howdy!" The flower grinned "It's okay, sorry if I scared you kid. I was just a bit startled, that's all!"

((I'm glad you aren't hurt!)) Frisk smiled as they relaxed ((I'm kind of clumsy sometimes))

"No prob bob" The plant smiled, wrapping a vine around the human. "I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower! It's nice to meet you"

 _(My name isn't bob…)_ Frisk's thoughts trailed off as they suddenly realized; gripping Flowey's vine they squeezed it excitedly.

"W-what are you doing?!" Flowey shrieked, a bit of panic leaking into his voice as he shook off the human's fingers.

Quickly the human pulled out their notebook and excitedly jotted down their realization.

Chara muffled a giggle as the flower deciphered the messy writing. ((Wow! Are you really a flower?))

He turned to look at Frisk incredulously as the child stared at him, eyes shining in wonder. _(What was with this kid?)_ Flowey smashed his face into a vine _(The human refused to speak, and it almost seemed as if they were blind! They keep making silencing motions the air behind them, but no one is there! And now this? We have been talking for like 5 minutes already and they_ _ **just**_ _realize this?)_

Rolling his eyes, Flowey's voice dripped with sarcasm "No, I'm not a flower, I'm a human" he raised an eyebrow as Frisk's face fell, the humor was lost on them "Of course I'm a flower!" he snapped.

Frisk grinned perking up again ((That's awesome!))

Flowey blushed a bit at the praise and Chara stifled a snort of laughter; these two were hilarious.

"I'll be back" The ghost child whispered into Frisk's ear, leaving the flower and the human to talk. The child fingered their empty sheath and headed back into the flower infested room.

The human was really slow and they had talked about forgetting a stick or something. Chara grinned, this could be a perfect opportunity to test out the extent of their ghost powers.

~O*O~

Flowey shook the stupid grin off his face, if the kid really couldn't see, this would be all too easy.

"Someone should show you the ropes down here" he plastered on a small smile "I guess lil' old me will have to do" Wrapping a vine around the human's soul, the flower pulled Frisk into battle mode.

The child gasped as they felt themself become almost weightless.

"See that? That's your soul! The very culumation of your being!"

Frisk felt a strange floating sensation as they listened to Flowey's explanation. _(No, I can't see my soul)_ Frisk thought dryly, though the room did feel different, as if they were vulnerable. _(Well, my heart is the center of my body I guess)_ So while Flowey talked, the child imagined a heart in the middle of an empty space. Choosing their favorite color out of the twisting shapes behind their closed eyelids, Frisk filled the heart outline with a beautiful warm color.

After zoning out for a while, they focused back just in time to hear Flowey say:

"Down here LOVE is shared through little white friendliness pellets, I'll share some with you!"

Frisk tilted their head toward Flowey's voice a bit of confusion showed on their face. The magical talking flower's tone had suddenly grown cold, and the child did not understand why he had placed an emphasis on the word 'love.'

A sudden spear of pain in their leg made the child bend down to check their injuries. Moving their hands over their stinging knees, Frisk winced as their fingers touched scraped skin. _(Well, at least my legs aren't-_

A sudden buzzing sound zoomed past where their heart was just a second ago cutting off the child's thoughts. A small thud followed as something hit the flowers behind them.

"What happened kid?" Flowey asked, annoyance dripped from his words like acid "You were supposed to catch the friendliness pellets."

((Oh, sorry)) Frisk hurriedly scratched out catching their breath; the pellets that had startled them sounded like something a lot more dangerous.

"Let's try again, move around and catch as many as you can!" Flowey chirped, a false brightness sprinkled his voice.

Frisk groaned internally, how were they supposed to catch things when they couldn't see them? Putting aside their doubts about the flower, the child held out their hands; palms cupped, forming a ready stance.

A buzzing filled the air

~O*O~

Chara spotted the stick among the flowers against the far wall of the plateau quite easily.

Test one, they grinned. Focusing on their feet, the child imagined themself floating off the ground. A few moments passed, they didn't feel any different. Another couple seconds and the child cracked open their good eye, sighing in frustration as they saw their translucent feet still planted firmly on the ground. So they couldn't fly, great.

Walking over to the stick on foot, they scanned the sheer rock face. Perhaps they could walk through the mountain? Not that they wanted to leave, just to take a quick peek outside; Chara sighed softly rubbing their fingers together. _(Was this really a good idea? Well it can't hurt to try could it?)_ Taking enough steps back to allow a running start; the child sprinted at the wall, closing their eyes and imagining slipping through the stone.

 _*thud*_

As Chara hit the wall a sharp pain cracked through their forehead, flinging the small child's body backwards. They smashed into the hard ground, the cold flowers were unforgiving.

"Owwww" They groaned, their head felt like their skull was cracking open. Trying to sit up caused the pain to intensify until black patches obscured their vision, so the hurt child lay still for a while until the pain faded.

 _(Why did that hurt? I thought that I was a ghost!)_

Lifting a hand to feel the damage, Chara was surprised to find that it came away clean. In fact there was no mark at all; no blood, no bump. Needless to say, the child was confused; they could feel pain, but not sustain injuries?

After the lightning bolts of agony faded into a dull throb; the child sat up, and with all of their concentration, picked up the stick.

"I'm the lamest ghost ever!" they muttered as they walked back, the branch dangling precariously between spectral fingers.

~O*O~

Chara walked through the archway, sweat beading their brow from concentrating so hard to keep a firm grasp on the tree branch.

"Hey Frisk! I'm back-

Their words were abruptly cut short as their pinkish-red irises widened.

The stick dropped from the child's grasp,

A dull thud as it hit the ground.

* * *

(notes)

Sorry for ending this on a cliff hanger, but I really didn't know how to split up this scene from the next one x-x

*Definition: Trepidation= a feeling of fear of agitation about something that may happen

As you can probably tell, Chara's physical characteristics are different, it's an au after all; don't worry backstory for them shall come later ;)

Ehhhh, how did you like the entrance of everyone's favorite houseplant? A lot of pain in this chapter, whoops :]

Moving was really tiring as our plane got delayed by 7 hours, rip x-x So sorry if this chapter gets posted a bit late :0

What kind of a ghost are they? They can't even float through walls? But are you sure they are one?


	9. Chapter 9: Empty

**Chapter 9: Empty**

 _(A/N: Lots of pain in this chapter so just a quick pain warning ;)_

Cold

Empty

Frigid space

He could not feel anything but empty coldness,

And pain.

Why was he here?

… _Supposed to be dead…why am I-ahhhgg_

 _~O*O~_

Time crawled on for the unnatural creature,

Memories seemed to fade to a dull grey, the world around him dimmed as if a light was blown out

But the cold was always there- inside; an unwanted companion.

Though, it wasn't as bad as the pain; it followed him striking, fading,

but it was never truly gone.

~O*O~

He had to do something to bide time, something to shake the pain, something to fill the void.

… _The plan…_

So the creature moved with a new purpose.

One by one, they fell down

One by one, they got saved

One by one they left

And one by one,

They perished.

Mom… the lady kept stopping him

Every time he felt nothing but emptiness- and pain,

acrid smoke left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Nevertheless,

The creature kept trying,

And she kept crying,

as one by one

They fell

~O*O~

Sometimes he visited the cavern

It was where _they_ first arrived,

All these flowers hadn't been here before,

They thrived without him…

The nostalgia washed over him whispering memories of his old life.

But he felt nothing

Why couldn't he feel anyth-

And after the memories, the pain in vicious waves; ripping the creature from reality.

For a while, he still visited,

Bearing the agony to talk to someone he once knew

Someone who was…

…

After a few years, he stopped.

What was the point?

He wasn't a kid anymore,

He wasn't the prince everyone had loved,

He wasn't anything.

~O*O~

So the creature filled the bottomless void with anger,

Bitter hatred seemed to dull its frozen core as the years flew by;

anger was better than nothing at all.

So the unnatural being masked its emptiness with its newfound emotion

And continued the plan.

Perhaps this time it would work, he no longer felt weak,

Steel heart, locked away

He no longer felt anything

but anger

~O*O~

The seventh human was somehow different, he could sense it. Shaking off a slight unease, he popped up to greet them.

"How-

The human tripped, a bare foot smacking into his head unleashed a river of curses that he had collected over the years.

A headache pounded in the creature's head and anger flared up as he struggled to make squiggly words. Observing the child as he carefully picked out his response only made the creature more confused.

 _Why didn't they talk? Why didn't they open their eyes? What's wrong with them?_

Their sweater brought back a strange feeling that was quickly replaced by familiar coldness once again.

~O*O~

The flower smiled a bit as a strange presence lifted from the room; the grin quickly faded as a bolt of pain forced him to suppress a moan. He needed to wrap this up quickly before she got here.

After making up a random lie to get the human to hold still, the flower moved on with phase two of his plan.

Focusing, Flowey summoned a small white oval; as it flew toward the child his vision blurred causing him to lean over as a wave of nausea hit him.

The human looked over in confusion and Flowey cursed, pushing back the pain to snap out a sentence.

"…Let's try that again, shall we?"

He was running out of time, she would be here soon and he didn't feel like getting burned again.

Summoning a ring of friendliness pellets brought on a fresh onslaught of dizziness, gritting his teeth, Flowey fired.

~O*O~

Frisk's heart stopped as the pellets hit their mark; time seemed to slow as the child was flung backwards, slamming into the ground.

The hurt child barely heard a distressed cry through the haze of pain. It tore through their body like a tsunami, their chest felt as if it was ripping. A sharp pain in their face accompanied the vicious stings of pellets hitting their mark. The child's hands felt a damp stickiness they checked their legs. They gasped for breath as Flowey's voice grew colder and colder.

The colors blurred

"Who would pass up an opportunity like this?" The flower sneered "A blind weak human, ha! What a joke!"

~O*O~

"Down here…" He breathed heavily "It's kill or be- Auuggg"

Doubling over in pain, he bit back a scream. It was getting worse and worse.

 _Why?! He had not injuries that he could see. If he had what the prince had, he would be long dead. So why were the phantom pains getting worse?_

Another sudden bolt of pain to the chest caused the flower to release a strangled cry.

~O*O~

Frisk pulled themself back into reality and the colors focused back into their normal shapeless movements.

Eyes opening reflexively, Frisk gritted their teeth against the pain radiating from their scrapes. They did not understand what had happened but Flowey was obviously in pain; they had to help. Reaching out-

"What are you doing!? Are you crazy?" Chara yelled, focusing enough to place two solid hands on Frisk's shoulders to pull the human backwards. Cursing, the spectral child squeezed the human's cheeks "He hurt you! Don't go near him, it's probably just a ruse. I leave for two seconds and you almost get yourself killed!"

Frisk landed in the grass and looked up toward Chara's voice; arms reaching upwards the human grabbed the startled ghost's hand.

There was no time for a notebook, so they hoped that their friend could understand them. Their guide's hands were cold. Strange.

((I'm okay!)) Frisk traced cutting off Chara's objection with a glare. ((I want to help! Sometimes people regret their decisions, they deserve a second chance! Because we all make mistakes! And even if he meant it, not helping just makes me more of a monster than him.))

Chara winced as a point hit home a little too close and sighed in defeat. Anger melting away as quickly as it came "Fine" they grumbled, helping the human back up.

~O*O~

Flowey flinched as the human sat down next to him, a careful foot of grass separated the two. The pain strangely seemed to lessen a bit as the human smiled at him.

"Get away from me" he snarled, a vine swatted weakly at the human who just ignored it.

((Are you dying?)) The child wrote turning the notebook toward the incredulous* flower.

Flowey just stared at the human, were they joking about this? Despite closed eyes, the kid looked incredibly sincere for some reason. "That's rather blunt don't cha' think?" he hissed, despite everything the corner of his mouth tilted upward slightly.

((Well it's the important question. Why would I ask if you were okay if I knew you weren't?)) Frisk's absolutely serious face made Chara burst into laughter as they watched the conversation, earning a glare from the human.

Flowey's smile dropped as his face grew solemn.

"I just tried to kill you, why do you care?"

The human turned to look toward the plant and a serious look graced their youthful features as they leaned over their notebook.

((Yes, I know I'm hurt but so are you. I've been dealt worse before))

Flowey's eyebrows furrowed "I'm nothing like you!"

((Perhaps not but we all live on earth don't we? And we are both alive, aren't we?))

The plant didn't even bother to read the human's writing as he stared at the maroon stains upon the petals of several sickly flowers, _he_ _did that_.

"I'm not like you; I'm not like anyone else! I don't even have a soul!" He looked at the human; messy hair, rumpled sweater, a cut on their worried face dripped red.

 _Red_

 _Humans leaked red,_

 _Another image flashed into his mind, a snapshot from another time,_

 _from someone else_

 _It was also stained red._

A fresh wave of nausea rolled over him, slapping away Frisk's hand he doubled over coughing.

"I shouldn't even be here! I shouldn't even be alive!" He hissed raspily as back patches invaded his vision.

…

"Hey! Pull yourself together!" a voice snapped in annoyance.

 _So the kid could talk?_ Flowey barely had time to think before a massive bolt of agony in his chest tore his breath away. Thoughts scattering, he panted to stay conscious as a bitter taste filled his mouth.

 _Out of time_

Gathering all of his strength, he shoved the bewildered human out of the way as a ball of fire smashed into his side. Plant matter crackled and burned.

The darkness edging his vision closed in.

The acrid smell of smoke filled the room

* * *

(Notes)

In which a flower feels pain, a color has different feelings, and someone interrupts a meaningful conversation- ahem.

Uhhhggg, Flowey is so hard to write X-x was he angry enough?

*Definition: Incredulous: unwilling or unable to believe something (I've used this before so I thought I probably should define it :P

Oh my! Something is definitely wrong with our favorite little flower, but what could it be?

 **(chara-cter summary so far ;)**

Frisk= blind, mute, naïve, clumsy (tis only to be expected after all), friendly

Chara= sees out of one eye, has pinkish-red irises (not albino, just a genetic mutation), sarcastic, impatient, anger is quick to start but quick to extinguish

Flowey= in pain, in lots of pain, hates the color red, a tad depressed, can't feel certain emotions, angry little guy

(all shall be explained later, don't eat me alive O-O)

How do you guys like the new cover art? It took me a while to watercolor, but I like how it turned out :D

Also, my wifi is now set up ^w^ so the only thing that can slow updates is school :/

Random thoughts: have you heard _**here comes a thought?**_ The SU song? Can't stop imagining problem butterflies on everyone O-O

Thanks for reading :D

~PhysikLily UwU


	10. Chapter 10: My Child

**Chapter 10: My Child**

 _(A/N: Whoooo double digits :D I'm surprised my determination is holding up OwO)_

 _~O*O~_

"What a terrible creature! Torturing such a poor innocent youth!" A foreign voice chided.

Frisk flinched as they felt a hand touch their shoulder. _(Who are you? What did you do to Flowey?!)_ They managed a half glare, even with closed eyes, and strained their ears to listen for a sound from their vanishing friend.

"Are you hurt my child?" The stranger asked worriedly ignoring Frisk's malevolent attitude toward her. "Here, let me heal you."

The human tried unsuccessfully to back away before they felt a warm sensation in their chest. A tingling spread outward toward their limbs and their cuts burned a bit before fading away.

Touching their face, Frisk blinked in surprise to find that the gash had been replaced by a thin ridge, the cuts were simply gone!

"Feeling better?" The human could hear the proud tones in the soft maternal voice and they calmed down enough to give her a small nod. "Good, I'm Toriel the caretaker of the ruins! I admit it's been a while since anyone has fallen down, nevertheless welcome to the underground!"

Frisk gave the strange lady a tight smile and turned around for Chara's advice.

"Mom…?" a soft voice whispered.

The human barely had time to register the words before Toriel declared: "Follow me!"

"He's not here" Chara whispered in a quieter tone than normal "Let's go."

Frisk gave the second room one last glance before following Chara's mother away from the cold flower carpet. Soft whispers assured them that their guide was following so the human closed their eyes and sent out a silent message to their vanishing friend.

~O*O~

Chara's eyes widened as they spotted a royal purple flutter through the grey smoke. _No way._

" _Are you okay?" "You!"_

" _Mom!" "My child?"_

A collage of voices flashed through their head as memories threatened to push past the locked doors.

A warm flash of light drove away the thoughts and Chara watched as the human's cuts closed. Pushing away a guilty wave of jealousy, the child tried to reach out and touch Toriel's arm.

Their hand phased right through the long white sleeve. Huffing in frustration, Chara concentrated, watching as their wrapped fingers became more and more opaque they tried again. And again nothing.

"Mom…?"

Confused, the child reached out to steer Frisk toward the arch and found themself able to touch the human, so why?

Seeing their ward's hesitation, the ghost quickly scanned the room for any trace of the strangely familiar plant.

"He's not here" She reported, picking up the stick and following the two living creatures into the foyer.

They could touch other things right? The branch in their hand proved it!

Placing the stick in Frisk's palms, they smashed their fist into the purple brick wall.

"Owwww" Chara cursed in pain as they checked to make sure that nothing was broken. _(Wait, could anything be broken?)_

 _(Why was mom here?)_ Chara hummed with confusion as they walked. _(And where is dad? How long have I been gone? Mom doesn't look any older…)_

 _(Frisk seems okay at least)_ Chara smiled a bit, dispelled their thoughts and followed their ward toward the stairs.

~O*O~

Frisk heard a strange buzzing to their left as they followed Toriel into the new room. A stale musty smell met them; the air had an ancient feel to it, as if it hadn't been disturbed for a while. A sense of calmness washed over the human, the place felt warm and welcoming.

"What's that?" Chara asked quizzically, Frisk could hear a tint of curiosity in their guide's tone.

((Where?)) Frisk wrote and let the other child guide them toward the mysterious object. Stepping on a crunchy leaf and it crinkled underfoot.

"Just a little bit more" Chara instructed as the human waded through the pile of leaves.

Frisk smiled as they walked; the happy crunching reminded them of autumn. _(But it was only spring?)_

"Right there!" Chara shouted excitedly "That yellow thing!"

Handing the stick to their guide, Frisk reached out with both hands toward the source of the buzzing.

A warm tingly feeling not unlike Toriel's magic flowed up from their finger tips filling the human with warmth.

"The shadow of the ruins loom above you filling you with determination" Chara intoned in a slightly robotic voice.

Frisk turned to them and burst into giggles.

"What?!" Chara shrugged defensively "The moment needed a caption!"

Frisk grinned and gave their guide a thumbs up before a strange voice declared " _File Saved_ "

The human gave the ghost a questioning look but Chara only sounded confused as well. "T-That wasn't me…"

"Come on now, my child!" Toriel called down from above.

Backing out of the leaf pile, but not before giving it a couple more jumps; the two children headed up the stairs.

~O*O~

"The ruins are filled with puzzles; please adjust yourself to the sight of them." Toriel hummed as she walked; a couple clicks and the grating sound of stone filled the air.

 _(Right. To the sight of them)_ Frisk thought, slightly annoyed.

"We built them to keep the humans out!" Chara added without thinking, "aren't they cool?!"

Frisk just paused and looked at their guide until the ghost child gasped.

"Ahhh! I forgot! You're a human!" The child noted embarrassedly "Uhhhh…. But you're cool! Unlike most humans..." Chara trailed off.

Frisk giggled silently and gave them a thumbs up to show them that it was fine.

The human remembered the headmaster's oily voice and shuddered… the boy… they hoped he was okay…

Shaking the memories, they whipped out their pencil.

((How do I solve puzzles if I can't see them?)) Frisk scribbled worriedly.

Chara snorted and ruffled the shorter kid's hair "That's what you have me for, silly!"

~O*O~

"If you meet any monsters, talk to them! They may want to harm you but I won't let them!" Toriel hummed as she walked. "Practice by giving this dummy a compliment!"

Following Chara's cues, the human bumped into a cloth object. Patting its face led Frisk to believe it to be a training dummy of some sort; its worn cloth was carefully lined with large stitches.

Chara hissed "Just do something" in response to Frisk's questioning look.

So the human shrugged and pulled out their notebook.

((Hi, how are you?))

…

"The dummy doesn't seem much for conversation," Chara observed dryly "But Toriel seems happy with you"

Frisk smile widened at their guide's silly attempt at narration and skipped forward to catch up with the maternal monster.

As the human walked a weight out of nowhere tackled them, pulling their soul into 'Battle mode.'

They turned toward Chara with a wide-eyed look. _(What do I do?)_

The taller child didn't answer but by the way their guide was laughing, Frisk guessed that it wasn't serious and proceeded to take out their pencil.

((I think you look lovely today)) they grinned, as they had no idea how the creature looked or even what it was.

"The froggit didn't understand but it looks flattered anyway" Chara whispered, snorting with laughter "You made them blush!"

"Toriel glared at it and the froggit ran for their life" The child gasped for breath in between spouts of laughter as they relayed the appearance of the third monster the human had met.

~O*O~

Bare feet slapping against warm bricks, the children followed the motherly monster through the ruins. Vines and signs lined the halls and occasionally a puzzle showed its face as well.

"Why don't you talk to me my child?" Toriel asked worriedly as they walked through the corridor.

Frisk paused to pull out the notebook and Toriel waited patiently as the human carefully wrote out a quick explanation.

((Nothing's wrong :) I'm just mute, oh yeah, and blind))

"Ohh! Toriel gasped "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" She leaned forward to give the human a sudden hug. Frisk flinched and Chara pulled them away with a quick jerk of an arm.

Toriel's eyes widened but she quickly covered the hurt look with an apologetic smile. "Heh, that was rather rash of me my child, forgive me"

Frisk stayed silent.

Chara walked toward the sign on the wall, internally chastising themself for the surge of jealousy. "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint… hmmm" the sign had not been there before.

"Here take my hand" Toriel smiled softly holding out a hand

Chara's eyes widened at the sight of the spikes and hissed "It's okay this time."

Frisk hesitated and the guide sighed heavily "Okay, if you hold her hand, I'll hold yours"

The human nodded and without a pause took Toriel's hand. They blinked in surprise to find it soft and covered in fur, almost like a paw?

Chara concentrated and slipped an ice cold palm into Frisk's.

Toriel covered her confused look with a relieved smile and lead the human through the spiky puzzle while making small talk.

"So my child, what are your pronouns?" She questioned, a serious tone laced with curiosity.

Frisk blinked with confusion and Chara hissed "Like he, she, them, etc."

 _Oh,_ _ **this**_ _conversation_. The human understood, flipping Toriel's hand to the palm side; they traced.

((I don't know… it doesn't really matter. But I guess I can't have no pronouns? So you can call me whatever.))

Chara blinked in surprise just as Toriel did the same; it was quite rare for a monster not to know themself.

Playing it safe, Toriel smiled "would 'they/them' work for you then?" Frisk shrugged with indifference and the monster dropped the awkward subject.

 _They were always so surprised that Frisk didn't care, why would it matter though? The human didn't care; it was that simple; it didn't change them as a person after all._ The human's thoughts buzzed with annoyance.

Suddenly Toriel stopped causing Frisk to bump into her and Chara to bump into Frisk.

"What the heck?!" Chara hissed, rubbing their nose as Toriel turned to the human.

"My child, I have something rather difficult to ask of you." She declared in a determined and curious tone "I would like you to walk to the end of this room by yourself."  
Frisk blinked in confusion before giving the monster a slight nod.

Chara tilted their head as well before handing the branch back to the human with a grin "I think I'm becoming rather adroit* at this stick toting job if I do say so myself."

Frisk giggled, accepting the offered object with a curtsey.

Taking Chara's hand,they started forward.

~O*O~

(Notes)

Ahhhhhhh, writing Toriel is so hard x-x almost worse than Flowey… rip

A certain human does not appear to enjoy sudden hugs and a certain ghost seems rather jealous ehhyy?

*Definition: Adroit- to be skilled/clever at something

Do not worry, goat mom is still awesome, just remember that this is an AU so I can pack it with angst! :D (jk,jk, but it's still going to be sad :)

If you have not noticed, Chara doesn't think of themself as a human (so if I say: the human, it's Frisk) :)

This marks double digit chapters, I think we need some reader thank you(s) ^w^

Thank you **butterscotchcinnamonpie** for the great constructive criticism and for being my first follower :D

And thank you **crazy dragon ninja** for cheering me on OuO (let's just say they got a lot of sap on themself since that is what is irritating about buttercups apparently :?

Thanks for reading!

~PhysikLily UwU


	11. Chapter 11: Adventure Start!

**Chapter 11: Adventure Start!**

 _(A/N: I had this done so I posted it one day early to make up for the late update :D now we are even :)  
_

It watched as the human followed the Queen down the hallway.

"Just do it!" A voice croaked urging it on. It still hesitated "What, are you scared?!" The voice taunted.

"No I'm not!" It shook its head furiously "I-I'll do it!"

Closing its eyes, it leaped forward with all the strength it could muster, smashing into the human with a thump.

They looked at it with wide eyes before pulling out a strange rectangular object. So they _would_ fight!

The monster hissed as bravely as it could "Get away from our queen!" It heard snickers in the background.

The human did not seem to understand; holding out the object, now covered in scribbles, they smiled.

It flushed red with surprise; it couldn't understand the writing but a kind aura emitted from them.

…

 _This_ was a human? Why would the elders warn them about _this_ thing? Humans were so _small_ , and weak… and kind.

Just as the monster was about to apologize it felt cold shivers up it's back. Slowly turning around, it met the Queen's furious glare and leaped back in surprise.

Oh no! She looked mad! What had it done?! It quickly hopped away in embarrassment, slipping back into the small alcove.

"I did it! Did you see-"

Its friends were nowhere to be found.

Sadly it bounded home, reaching its small, lonely leaf pile in a matter of minutes. Collapsing onto its back, it lay there staring at the brown-orange leaves above.

Hugging its only belonging, a battered plastic case with a worn image of a cloth monster, the Froggit sighed. Eyes passing over the familiar words on the back, the monster read it over and over again until sleep came.

It's not easy being green

~O*O~

 _1_

 _2,3_

 _4,5,6_

 _7_

 _This one was the seventh_

 _The seventh was to be the last_

 _The last…_

 _A memory of another time…_

 _Trace cloth_

 _Thread needle_

 _Large stitches, clumsy but determined_

 _Carefully placed down_

 _A warm smile as the first one left_

 _As the years passed the threads frayed and color faded_

 _As the years passed they spoke, ran, killed_

 _As the years passed, tears soaked into the once golden fabric_

 _The messy embroidery of a small child still remained untouched, protected_

" _A cotton heart and a button eye, You are the apple of my eye._ "

 _So the dummy stood still_

 _Never *capitulating to the trials of time  
_

 _Seventh, that would be the last one._

 _Right?_

~O*O~

As they walked down the hall Frisk handed the small notebook to Chara.

((How many pages are left?))

"Mmmm, let's see…" The child hummed as they let go of Frisk's hand to flip through the lined sheets, "Around fifteen, so you better conserve paper."

Placing the notebook back into the human's palm, the ghost laced transparent fingers behind their head. Mother seemed to have changed after all, they could tell from the way she acted around the human. She seemed anxious all the time, not willing to let them out of her sight… well, until now.

Glancing to the side, Chara blinked in surprise to see Frisk staring at them with wide-owlish eyes. The brown unseeing depths did not seem any different from … they sparkled with lively energy just like…

Shaking away the memories the ghost caught the human making tracing motions in the air. Chara sighed taking the stick in one hand and giving the other to their ward.

Beaming, Frisk began to trace; Chara wasn't actually sure how they could understand, but somehow they did.

((Describe yourself)) The human looked up hopefully.

Sighing, the ghost glanced at their wrapped fingers and began. "Well, I'm a little taller than you with brown hair a bit longer than yours, but in a similar style. I'm also wearing a sweater, but it has one stripe instead of two, let's see… I'm wearing capris and leather boots as well."

Frisk blinked, processing the information, their guide was almost just like them! The human wasn't exactly sure what 'brown' or 'stripes' were but they were glad Chara was around their age.

They wouldn't ask about the bandag-

Frisk's foot caught on an uneven brick jutting from the ground and the human flew forward.

Just as the air began to rush toward them, they felt hands grab their sweater.

The two children collapsed into a pile "heh, that was a close one!" Chara huffed

Frisk panted and smiled thanks before pointing at the strange object touching their leg with curiosity.

"Oh, that?" Chara's voice caught as they pulled the human to their feet "That's just my sheath, but I seem to have… misplaced my knife… it's okay!" Their smile strained as they picked up the stick and started forward.

Frisk followed after a pause with a worried look on their face. They had a feeling that bringing up the 'sheath' was a bad idea.

As Chara kept walking the human paused, hearing the sound of breathing. Turning toward the noise, they touched a stone object. Grooves scored up the pillar vertically, and small pieces had been chipped off as the years had passed. Reaching around the cold beam they felt… a sleeve?

"Oh! You've found me!" The familiar voice moved out from behind the stone to give them a small pat on the shoulder, "Do not worry my child, I was merely behind this pillar the whole time."

Frisk heard Chara sigh behind them and imagined their guide rolling their eyes in annoyance. The human giggled at Toriel's silly antics and then grew serious as she declared "I have something that I must attend to, please wait here."

~O*O~

Chara watched Toriel leave the room and sighed, what was mom up to?

Frisk turned the phone over in their hands and stashed it in their pocket.

They waited for five minutes while Chara paced around impatiently.

"Come on!" Chara called from the entrance to the next room, "Let's explore!" At Frisk's hesitation, the ghost child pulled their ward forward by the sweater "It'll be fine! I know the way, we can surprise her!"

Taking a deep breath, Frisk stood up and nodded; they were tired of waiting as well.

~O*O~

The leaves rustled and whispered as a monster hustled into the forgotten city

A tune full of heartache and hope filled the air,

whispering across dusty streets

And through worn buildings

The wind howled and whistled

This time…

This time…

 _This time._

* * *

(notes)

So how were the Froggit and Dummy points of view? I told you guys I would try to do everyone?

(Lol, it owns a kermit the frog cd)

*Definition- Capitulate= to give in

Yikes, we didn't really progress far this chapter :/

The mystery of how Toriel gets groceries in the old city intrigues me :0

The human does not seem to know colors ehhyyy?

Chara's sheath is a simple one made of brown leather fastened around their left leg

Have you noticed that I've stopped telling you who's p.o.v. it is? I think it's more fun for you guys to figure it out yourself OwO

I think I enjoy including the monsters' *check* in their point of view :D

We have so many new characters! I really need to post more ref sheets on my tumblr x-x

See ya

~PhysikLily UwU


	12. Chapter 12: Candy!

**Chapter 12: Candy!**

Chara peered into the bowl curiously as Frisk sat listening to the froggit's lecture on showing mercy.

"No way!" Their eyes widened at the sight of glistening wrappers. "Yo Frisk!" the child called excitedly "come here, quick!"

Frisk gave the froggit a curtsy and carefully followed Chara's voice into another room. The soothing sound of trickling water filled their ears as the human felt a cool breeze blow their hair forward. The damp earthy smell reminded them of rain.

"Look it's candy!"A happy voice shrieked from the left. Frisk's fingers bumped into the bowl as they walked forward causing a small card fluttered to the floor, and Chara picked it up.

"Take one?"

Frisk raised an eyebrow as their guide shouted "hella yeah!" and grabbed the bowl off the pedestal. Plopping down, Chara sat with their legs crossed and their ward followed suit. Dumping all of the candy onto the ground, the ghost child proceeded to sort it into to four piles. "red, yellow, blue, green…"

The ghost child frowned, the wrappers were clear plastic tinted different colors then wrapped around small hard candies. "These aren't chocolate! Imposters!"

Shrugging, Frisk reached out and popped one into their mouth, sliding the wrapper into their pocket. The ghost child stared at the pile for a few moments, then at Frisk "…i-is it any good?"

The human gave them a thumbs up and relaxed into a casual sitting position to chill, the candy forming a small bulge in their cheek.

Chara glanced longingly at the piles before giving in: though their *ambivalence caused them to pause before taking a blue sweet. As soon as it touched their tongue the child regretted their decision immediately. The floral taste was cloying, and gagging, the child spat the candy back into the wrapper. A small label on the plastic caught their eye.

[Violet]

What kind of idiot made candy out of violets?! They weren't even blue! They were purple!

Checking the other labels made them groan. Red was rose, who ate roses? Green was mint….bleh, just bleh. What was yellow? Buttercups?

Picking up a sunny piece of candy, the child flipped it over with apprehension.

[Butterscotch]

…

Unwrapping the candy, Chara smiled sadly at the glossy brown disc.

…

So she had perfected it.

Pushing the round sweet into their mouth, their eyes widened in surprise. It was good.

The rich sweetness of cream and sugar ended with a note of bitterness from the violets. It reminded them of…

Heh, they hadn't noticed before, but the familiar tingle of mom's magic fizzled in their tummy.

…

Sensing their guide's quietness, Frisk opened their notebook.

((Hey, at least it wasn't liquorice flavored :) ))

Chara forced a laugh and stood up "Monster Candy: a distinct non-liquorice flavor!"

The human giggled softly as they were pulled up. The green clad child slipped all of the yellow candies into their empty sheath and dumped the others back into the bowl.

Lifting is back onto the pedestal, a lapse of concentration made it slide through Chara's fingers…

*Crack*

Look what you've done! A small voice shouted in their head.

"Ahhh!" Chara gasped pushing Frisk away from the wreckage "I'll fix it!"

The child with one stripe picked up the intact plastic lid and sighed at the ceramic bowl. It had split into three irregular pieces spilling the candy onto the floor. "hey… you wouldn't happen to have any tape would you?"

Frisk thought for a moment before gasping and pointing at the band-aids on their fingers.

"Uhhh… that's great…" Chara blanched "but don't you kinda need those?"

Shaking their head, the human pulled one off to show that it was blood free; the skin that it had once covered was smooth and woundless.

"Sooo, you just put random band-aids on your fingers?" at a shrug from the human, Chara raised an eyebrow, _(man, this kid was weird_ )

Picking up two pieces, the ghost concentrated on fitting them together.

"Okay, put the band-aid here…"

~O*O~

Setting the fixed bowl back on the pedestal, Chara stepped back to admire their hard work. The blue bandages looked pretty good against the white ceramic.

"Good job!" The ghost grinned giving the human a high five as they walked out of the room.

~O*O~

Chara watched with amusement as the human romped around in the leaf pile.

"Look! There's another one of those star things!" The child jumped into the pile as well.

Wading toward the warm buzzing, the two children stuck their hands into the light.

"Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination!" Chara announced as seriously as they could before busting into laughter.

Soon the two were rolling through the leaves, giggling and throwing the foliage at each other.

[File Saved] a strange voice intoned

The two children paused to glance at each other with wide eyes before resuming their rolling.

Bits of leaves adorned the friends as their laughter echoed down the halls.

~O*O~

He watched as the human ran off to the candy room. He hoped this one would heed his warning.

The others did not.

He heard a shattering sound.

Watched them leave and jump around in leaf piles. It was a good thing that it was day time otherwise some poor monster would receive a rude awakening.

They seemed to react to unseen creatures.

As the seventh human left he sighed, settling back down in a warm patch. The froggit's ancient bones creaked; he was too old for this. Perhaps Asgore would succeed and free everyone.

It would be nice to feel the warmth of the sun.

* * *

(notes)

Uhhh, I thought they would progress faster x-x Actually, one of the reasons that they are going so slow through the runes is because I honestly don't know how to portray Sans because I don't understand him. If you have some advice for me I would love to hear it :D

*Definition- ambivalence- indecision/ contrary feelings (in this case, about the candy to choose)

This froggit as you can tell is a different froggit than the first one :)

1st froggit= young, does stupid dares, reminds me of Marty from back to the future

2nd froggit= old, ancient, wary, has advice, knows himself

I love the concept of the monster candy having different flavors and being made by Toriel ;)

Guys! I'm so excited, I plan on being Frisk for Halloween (I will trick or treat even when I have kids myself) and I'm knitting a sweater for the first time :D Can't wait to see how it turns out X)

I know I should've done something for Undertale's 1st anniversary but I was so busy with homework X-x so I just want to thank you Toby Fox. Your game really inspires me to step out of my comfort zone and speak up for my own beliefs.

Stay Determined

~PhysikLily UwU


	13. Chapter 13: Choice

**Chapter 13- Choice**

Something hit Frisk's face with a soft *poff* as they picked leaf bits out of their hair—pulling their soul into battle mode.

"Woah! It's a Whimsun!" Chara's voice sounded happy as they tapped around, their words seemed to come from somewhere distant.

The human opened their notebook to write out a note but before they had even taken out a pencil, the monster burst into tears.

 _What should I do; what should I do?!_ Frisk panicked, as they reached out to comfort the creature it fled and their soul returned to their body.

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong" Chara patted the upset human's shoulder "Whimsuns are just really shy and sensitive; next time, I'll tackle them so they can't escape!"

Frisk grinned and puffed out their chest, a determined look on their face. Giggling, Chara imitated the marching human as they continued on.

~O*O~

Whimsun studied the worn brick floor as it fluttered quietly through the hallway; thin translucent wings barely making a sound. _Don't notice me. Don't notice me_. Whimsun pleaded in Whimsun's own head, thoughts reflecting hollowly against despair filled eyes.

Whimsun flew into something with a *Whompf* translucent body barely feeling a thing.

"I-I'm s-so sorry!" Whimsun squeaked as it backed away—eyes widening in fear as realization sunk in of who Whimsun had run into. "I-I wasn't w-watching! I-I…" Whimsun's panicked squeaks faded as the human took out a notebook.

"Humans have deadly magic!" One of the froggits had taunted, "If they take out their spell book, then you're dead!"

"P-Please don't k-kill me!" Whimsun begged, not seeing the human's confused expression and amicable aura. The small monster broke into tears when the human reached into their pocket for something else—a wand?

Pausing, the human stretched out a horrifying fleshy limb of power; as it came toward them, Whimsun let out a choked scream and forced Whimsun's wings to work. Whimsun flew and flew, and didn't look back until the familiar dusty smell of crumbling buildings met them.

Reaching a hidden alcove, Whimsun collapsed into a sobbing heap. _Weak, so weak._

Horrible humans, horrible monsters, Whimsun wanted to disappear. Whimsun was weak. So weak.

Through the haze of tears, Whimsun spotted a blur of purple and wiping at overflowing eyes, they managed a small smile.

The carefully cut lavender stem had flowered; the minute purple blossom, a small pop of color in the old, forgotten city. Curling up on the cold crumbling brick, Whimsun drifted off into a fitful sleep—clutching the small pot with both hands.

 _Mother why are you fading?_

 _Mother?... Mother!_

 _No, where are you taking her?_

 _I-let go! I don't want to go with you! Let me out!_

" _This monster is too weak to fight, release them."_

 _I-I'm not weak!_

 _I'm not-_

 _I…_

~O*O~

Chara didn't even have time to open their mouth before the human stepped into the pit—eyes wide with terror. Taking a deep breath, they jumped in after the blue clad child.

"Are you okay?" The older one shook Frisk's shoulders vigorously, a look of concern graced their features, "I wasn't paying attention, sorry!"

The human groaned, rubbing their head and giving their guide a thumbs up.

((What happened?)) They traced as Chara looked up at the metallic glimmers in the ceiling; a couple leaves floated down from above landing onto the already decent sized pile, and the euphonious* sound of crinkling leaves filled the air.

"We fell…into one of the puzzles mom… Toriel was talking about." They sighed, pulling the human to their feet and grabbing the stick as well. "There are two doors, left or right?"

Frisk only shrugged, so after a moment of thinking Chara pulled the human through one of them.

"Right is always the right one… right?" The two children giggled as they felt a breeze kick up, sucking them through a vent and back upstairs. Leaving them both breathless as the buzz of magic fizzled out around them.

"That was awesome!" Chara grinned and the human nodded in agreement. The ghost child frowned internally; the number of puzzles had really grown since they had last lived here, why?

~O*O~

*Ring! Ring! Frisk took out the small phone that Toriel had given them before it could ring a third time.

"Hello? This is Toriel!" A familiar voice greeted them through the device "I just wanted to ask—for no reason in particular—which do you prefer: Cinnamon, or Butterscotch? Uhh… tap once for cinnamon and twice for butterscotch."

Hmm, Frisk thought for a while before tapping once much to Chara's disappointment.

"Aww man! Butterscotch is the best!"

The human reminded the ghost a bit of themself when they had first fallen, heh, they would learn.

*Ring! Ring! Again? Frisk's eyebrows rose as they answered the phone.

"Hello again!, I know what your preference is, but would you turn up your nose at butterscotch if you found it on your plate?" A slightly worried Toriel asked "Tap once for yes and twice for no."

Rolling their eyes, Chara leaned over, tapped twice and ended the call.

"Don't worry, she always just puts both things in the same dish" the ghost child groaned, "I don't know why she didn't ask you both at the same time."

The human grinned and pocketed the phone.

"A sign on the wall reads: Three out of every four grey rocks recommend you push them." Chara announced as Frisk tripped over the boulder. "I see you've found the rock." The green clad child snorted, helping the human up.

Frisk stuck out their tongue at their guide as they pushed the rock forward until they heard a click.

((What about the one out of four that are not recommended to push?)) Frisk scribbled.

"Heh, I don't know" Chara smirked "What if the rocks aren't grey?"

Walking into the next room caused Frisk to slip on something slimy, cue the battle mode.

Chara groaned as they described the enemy Moldsmal; this kid was _really_ clumsy!

Their ward wiggled their hips and flopped onto the floor to lay with the jiggly monster causing the ghost child to facepalm. Just after the slimy foe slid away, Chara's eyes widened. Reaching out just in time, they caught Frisk before the human fell into another puzzle.

"Hang on," They hissed "It's another pitfall puzzle."

Frisk gave their guide a mischievous look and—grabbing Chara—jumped forward. The one with working vocal chords made good use of them in that moment.

"What the heck!?" The ghost child shrieked as they got out of the leaf pile "Why would you do-"

Cupping a hand over Chara's mouth, Frisk gave them a small smirk before jumping back into the leaf pile. The elder child dove after the younger with a roar, starting a wrestling match that ended with tickles.

"You won't give up?" Chara smiled, an impish look on their face. At Frisk's head shake, the ghost tickled harder. The human was laughing so much that they could barely breathe. "Do you surrender now!?"

Gasping for air, Frisk nodded capitulating to the tickle master. Panting, the two children lay in the scattered leaf pile grinning like fools.

~O*O~

The moldsmal was lying immobile, staring at the fading purple of the ceiling when the human came.

The human did a strange swaying dance and the moldsmal jiggled back; the human felt inclined to lie with it on the floor. Together they contemplated the universe for a while before the moldsmal moved politely so the human could pass through.

Watching the human gesture to thin air before jumping into a puzzle made the moldsmal sigh. What a curse! To be skilled in contemplation but have no mouth; it could not share the secrets of the universe. But perhaps they were not meant to be shared.

At least this human hadn't taken a bite out of it because it smelled like lime gelatin, the moldsmal shuddered at the memories.

* * *

(notes)

Hey! The ultimate choice has been asked XD Frisk has never actually had butterscotch…

*Definition: euphonious- Pleasing to the ear

Whimsun- Yikes there is more to Whimsun's backstory and it's kinda sad but I'm kinda too lazy to type it right not U-U Yes, this whimsun's only pronoun is Whimsun. It's hard to write trust me.

Moldsmal- This one is rather old, it was around for the last human as well. I actually don't really like lime jello but *shrugs

As you can probably tell by now, I really like incorporating the monster *CHECK* into their point of view piece, I find it really fun! It also helps me build their personalities more :D

Frisk is kinda crazy at time XD

Frisk Sweater progress= 10 inches of front x-x

I challenged myself to watch playthroughs for all of the five nights at freddy's games and have accomplished my goal with minimum scarring. To my surprise, I haven't had a nightmare about animatronics yet O-O But I'm really happy to accomplish my goal, now I feel stronger, hehe (I'm not in the fandom though, sorry but it's a mess and I hate inappropriate things)(It's also fun to watch Mark scream ;)

It's getting really cold here O-O send help.

(Happy Starfall Celebration, Arcanist!)


	14. Chapter 14: ZZZzzz

**Chapter 14: ZZZzzz**

 _(A/N: A quick warning, there is a curse word in this chapter (the h word)_

"More rocks?!" Chara groaned as they spotted the three grey boulders.

Frisk tapped one with the stick and, dropping the branch, began to push it.

"Woah there pardner!" a lazy voice drawled "Who said you could push me around?"

Frisk shrieked silently and hopped back while Chara's eyes widened incredulously. "What the?" they cursed and walked over to the boulder with the southern accent.

Frisk looked at their guide in panic (What should I do?) they traced.

"Well, they have no eyes to read writing, they're a rock." Chara mused "I can try to talk to them?"

Frisk nodded hopefully so the elder child stepped forward. "Excuse me Mr. Rock, do you think you could move over?"

No response.

Biting their lip they tried again, "Do you think that you could move?"

No response.

No! This was not happening! Chara concentrated and reached out to tap the boulder on what was assumed to be a shoulder. Their fingers did not pass through the rock on the child's second try.

"Hey dude, move over!"

"Oh? You want me to move over?" The rock seemed amused "Sure, just for you pumpkin."

Chara frowned "My name is not pumpkin."

The rock moved an inch

"Like bro, move over more!"

The rock moved to the left.

Cursing, Chara facepalmed "Onto the freaking pressure plate, do you have rocks for brains?!" oh. Wait.

"No need to get all riled up, I got it, I got it" The boulder sounded a bit offended as he slided toward the plate.

Chara huffed in frustration and stepped toward the opening into the next room as Frisk made a move to follow.

A sharp sudden pain shot up their leg making Chara scream out; looking down, the child nearly fainted when they saw a sharp metal spike protruding from a slightly translucent boot. Cursing, they lifted their foot from the metal expecting to see a rush of blood. Nothing.

(Are you hurt?) Frisk's face wrinkled as they tapped their guide's shoulder.

Chara turned in fury and pain—shaking off the human's hand—toward the talking rock. He _had_ moved.

"What the hell?!" They spat, the edges of their vision blurred, "Stay on the freaking plate, do you think that was funny? Do you want to kill me?!"

"Sorry, sorry" The rock sounded quieter almost penitent* "I got it."

Frisk wrapped an arm around their guide's cold sweater and they limped through the doorway.

~O*O~

It had been a while since he had seen such a cute kid, what a shame they had to die.

The rock grinned as he talked (it was possible even with no mouth.) He used to watch over the kids when other monsters were busy; it was such a shame that humans didn't fall in pairs, perhaps then they would stand a chance.

At least there were still some young monsters, though their numbers seemed to decline every year.

He started at the scream, the human was nowhere near the spikes when he got off the plate.

Their mouth hadn't moved. Their mouth hadn't moved the whole time they talked to him.

The human screamed at them. Their mouth still did not move.

He did not know that some humans still had magic. Spooked, he complied, watching with slight fear as they communicated to something that was not there.

He wished he was not there.

~O*O~

"What's that smell?" Chara groaned as they limped forward, the hole in their foot had not closed and it still throbbed; they could see the ground where there was no leather.

Frisk sniffed at the air and blinked in surprise –it smelled like cheese!

"Over there" The wounded child tapped on Frisk's right arm to guide them toward a brown circular table.

Frisk poked at the object cautiously and squeaked when they found the hard shell of the cheese to be slightly soft, bouncing back after being prodded. They tried to move the cheese slice, they could not.

"The cheese had been here so long that it's stuck to the table" Chara observed. Hearing a squeaking, they turned around to see a small bundle of grey fur scurry into a hole in the wall.

"There's another one of those star things" The green clad child pointed out, but the human had already found it. As the warm glow filled the air Chara smiled a tired smile and opened their mouth "Knowing that the mouse might one leave its hole and get the cheese fills you with determination."

(File saved)

This time Frisk wondered what it meant, they walked slowly into the next room with a yawn—their feet were starting to ache.

A loud zzzz sound came from the center of the room. Chara guided the human toward the sound—whispering "This ghost keeps saying z,z,z over and over. We should talk to him!"

(Aren't they sleeping?) the human traced.

"Psshhhh" Chara flapped a hand in the air "ghosts don't sleep."

Shrugging, Frisk leaned over and tapped the ghost twice—their fingers seemed to pass through thick, warm air.

No response. Frisk waited. Chara fidgeted with their finger wrappings impatiently.

"Are they gone yet?" a soft voice asked, rusty from disuse.

Frisk sat down next to the ghost and waved. Chara giggled softly as the ghost jumped an inch and pulled Frisk into battle-mode. "Here comes Napstablook!" the elder whispered to the younger.

Chara did not know how they knew the ghost's name, perhaps someone had told them long ago. Perhaps they had known long ago. The child slumped down against the wall to sit on the warm brick floor and watch.

Frisk gave the incorporeal ghost a patient smile and wondered why the monster was out here laying in the leaves.

The human's smile faded as they let out a pained hiss; something wet dripped onto them from above, the mysterious liquid burned.

Chara cursed as a couple droplets falling from Napstablook's overflowing eyes hit them. "They're crying acid tears!"

Catching their breath, Frisk pulled out their notebook to scribble out a joke.

(What are the categories of sadness?)

"What?" a wavering voice asked.

(Tiers ;)

Chara groaned at the joke but internally filed it away for later use; Napstablook only gave the human a faint smile. "Dang, this guy has no sense of humor!"

"Text is floating in the air" the green clad child whispered "it says: "Sorry, not feeling up to it right now."

Frisk gave their guide a shrug and prepared to write another joke, they had plenty where that came from.

"Let me try…" The sound of tears began again causing the human to flinch, but nothing hit them.

"The tears are floating upwards" Chara observed in awe "What is- woah! That's so cool! The ghost dude made a top hat out of his tears!"

"I call it dapper blook, do you like it?"

Frisk gave Napstablook a large grin accompanied by a thumbs up.

"heh, I usually come to the ruins because there is no one here," Napstablook's voice lightened as a bit of friendliness spread through it, "but today I met someone nice… Oh… I'm rambling again… sorry, I'll get out of your way."

~O*O~

"He's gone" Chara noted as they got up ignoring the pain in their foot, "he was a chill guy."

Frisk held out their hand toward their guide, it the palm was five yellow wrapped candies.

"H-how did you?" The wounded child gaped in confusion as they realized that the sweets that they had stashed in the sheath were gone.

Taking one they pushed back the human's hand "That's okay, you keep the rest."

Frisk shrugged and unwrapping one, popped it into their mouth while shoving the rest into a pocket.

Chara followed suit and smiled as the familiar taste spread over their tongue, they felt a little bit better.

* * *

(Notes)

Whoooo! We are almost to Toriel's! :D

Sorry guys but I think I'm going to hold off on Napstablook's p.o.v. until we get to his house. It'll give me more time to develop their character :)

Yikes, that rock. We hope Chara will be okay, don't we?

I almost feel as if we are forgetting something…

*Definition- penitent= feeling or showing regret

I have the whole back panel of the sweater done :) I've used 4.5 balls of yarn. Rip.

(eeyyyy pie! That's so cool :D I would love to be Undyne but it's so cold during Halloween here (plus having to paint my face blue and stuff)

I've discovered welcome to night vale, a podcast, is great to play while knitting since you only have to listen so I don't get distracted OwO Yikes, I am burning through fandoms at this rate O-O

Hehe, It's October, time for things to get spoopy OUo

Goodnight,

~PhysikLily UwU


	15. Chapter 15: F4

**Chapter 15: F4**

The stale smell of long undisturbed air hit Frisk as they walked into the room and a thin thread brushed against their face causing them to flinch.

"Uhhhggg" Chara's voice shuddered as they entered as well "this place is _covered_ in cobwebs!"

The two continued forward; Frisk's bare feet slapped softly against bricks but they couldn't hear the sounds of their guide's progress.

"Stop" Chara's voice sounded slightly weary so they obeyed quietly while their guide's words rang out from further ahead. "Spider bake sale… all proceeds go to… real spiders…"

There was more than faint distaste in their tone; Frisk didn't understand, what was so bad about spiders?

"Come on, let's go" Chara began to pull the blue clad child toward the doorway.

They placed a hand on their guide's sleeve and gave them a wide-eyed pleading expression. Sighing, Chara placed their palms on Frisk's shoulders and steered them toward one of the two large glistening webs that stood in stark contrast to the other long abandoned weavings.

"It says: spider donuts-7g, spider cider-18g" Chara's voice impatiently rattled off but Frisk could also hear something else, something that they couldn't quite place…

Taking out the small handful of coins that monsters kept giving them for some odd reason; they counted out seven and simply dropped them into the web.

Chara watched incredulously as the tarnished discs were scooped up by a small legion of dancing spiders—gasping when their eye caught sight of a single bulging purple arachnid making its way toward the human. Before they could say anything however, the abnormally colored spider placed a familiar pastry, covered with a violet glaze, into their ward's hand.

Frisk felt the soft and slightly sticky object touch their palm and, wrapping their hand around it, lifted their fingers from their lips in a 'thank you.'

As they left the room Chara shot the human a quizzical glance, "I thought you didn't know sign language." At Frisk's confused look the taller child shook their head "Never mind." Chara glanced back and watched as the larger spider waved out orders to the ancillary* arachnids with her many limbs. _Shudder._

~O*O~

The head baker placed her many arms on her hips and breathed a sigh of relief that the transaction had gone without a hitch. They were progressing toward their goal, perhaps soon they could finally leave this wretched place.

This human had been quite calm unlike some other ones; geez, didn't they know it was rude to destroy property? Wiping her brow, she waved out orders and scuttled back into the kitchen.

 _(I hope we can leave before Asgore freed everyone, no one wants to be stuck underground all alone after all.)_

Taking out a mixing bowl she smiled, this human had been rather nice, it was too bad… Oh! She should probably write to Muffet soon, it had been a while since she had heard from Big Sis.

~O*O~

"Hmm…" Chara mused, reading the sign out loud, "Did you miss it? Spider Bake Sale! Come eat food made by spider, for spiders… of… spiders?" their voice developed a sick sound after reading that last part.

Frisk blinked and patted the donut lightly, it felt alright and it smelled alright…

"Ribbit, ribbit" a soft croak interrupted their thoughts as they heard a… froggit off to their right.

"He's saying that he's sad no one ever listens to him, not even his friends, blah, blah, blah…" Chara pulled Frisk toward the next froggit with disinterest.

"Ribbit, ribbit" a more thoughtful croak greeted them.

"It's asking what the F4 keys on computers stand for? Four frogs? I've only seen three in this room" Chara snorted "The froggit says that this is troubling to say the least."

Frisk gave their friend a reprimanding look and held up their notebook (Is there really only three frogs?)

The child with sight glanced around while stifling a giggle "I only see three…"

The shorter kid made a shushing motion and stood very still. They could hear breathing, their own and… four more? They began to quietly pad around the room, fingers brushing against cracked bricks. The ground was slightly lukewarm, the walls pleasantly cool; the air was still and had the faint odor of… mustard seed?

As they walked, one of the faint sound of breathing grew louder and louder. Stopping, Frisk felt a hand sized hole in the wall—the sound of breathing grew panicked.

Carefully ripping the spider donut in half, they placed one section into the hole to calm the fourth froggit down. Licking sticky fingers, they gave the miniscule monster a smile and followed Chara's voice.

Their guide was having a conversation with the third froggit so Frisk sat down to take a bite of their remaining donut while listening intently. The donut didn't taste like spiders, it tasted like… shrimp?

"Ahh, I see… sparing is just saying I won't fight… one day I'll have to do it even if… thank you…"

Frisk offered Chara some of the donut "I'm good" their guide's voice slightly wobbled sounding nauseous. Shrugging, the sticky fingered human popped the rest of the pastry into their mouth as they headed into the next- wait. They had only sensed five entities in that room, themself and the four froggits… but what about… Frisk shook their head; it must have been a fluke.

Ring! Ring! Pulling out the phone, they held it to their ear and waited patiently.

"Hello!" Toriel's voice greeted "I realized that it's been a while since I've cleaned up… if you see something lying around feel free to take it, but make sure it's not dangerous!"

The call ended.

Frisk gave Chara a confused look and their guide's voice sounded dubious as well. "I don't know… mom- she's weird sometimes."

~O*O~

"What did you think of the human?" The second froggit questioned thoughtfully.

"They were kinda rude…" The first's voice was saturated with melancholy "They walked away while I was talking…" He didn't mention how the human looked like they had been pulled away.

"They looked thoughtful" frog three observed, she didn't mention how the human looked different when she had been talking to them. Nor how at one point there had been two humans.

None of them talked about how the human seemed to have been communicating with someone not seen.

The smallest froggit munched softly on the human's gift and hummed quietly. This was the only time anyone had ever found its hiding place. If all humans were like this, it hoped that one day they would visit again.

~O*O~

Frisk suddenly felt the all too familiar tug of a monster pulling them into battle mode as they started into the next room. A soft hiss accompanied a loud grunting sound as Chara stepped beside them.

"Loox and co. decide to pick on you" They muttered disapprovingly and began to reach for their sheath before remembering that their knife was not there.

"Don't pick on me!" Loox's voice sounded defensively angry.

"HEED THE SWARM!" cackled Migosp, but Frisk didn't think a very happy aura emanated from the monster.

(I won't pick on you, don't worry :) They scribbled to Loox who blinked at the human. They prepared to write a message to Migosp as well but before they could, the hard-shelled monster slapped the notebook out of their hand.

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK, SHUT UP!" Migosp roared causing the human to flinch as several objects hit them. All of a sudden the attack stopped as a voice spoke up, gruffly but not unkindly.

"Someone finally gets it" a monster sighed and Frisk listened as their footsteps faded then turned toward Migosp fully expecting another attack.

…But Migosp sounded happy "Mmm cha cha, it's so good to be me!"

Chara handed Frisk back the notebook after dusting it off and snorted "What a weirdo, he's dancing now?!"

Frisk gave a relieved exhale and danced with the Migosp for a bit before it sashayed away.

"Looks like it wasn't evil, just hanging out with the wrong crowd" the taller child's tone slightly warmed as they watched.

~O*O~

Loox looked up at the tattered volume perched on the ledge with less hatred than normal—if that was possible.

The horrible yellowed pages had led to his lifetime of being made fun of. Just because his dad liked some stupid human book didn't mean he had to name his kid 'Loox Eyewalker,' like really?

After a while he got sick of the taunting and decided that the other monsters needed a taste of their own medicine. And it seemed to have worked, the others began to leave him alone bit he soon began seeing different looks. They started to see him differently and when he went places where before he saw small smiles, he only saw fear.

"hahahahaha" He laughed to himself placing a palm to his face, he laughed harder "it hurts, ha, it hurts."

Their looks sliced him deeper than daggers but he was in too far. The human had been nice to him, but only because they didn't know anything about him. Not even King Asgore freeing everyone would change a thing.

Loox laughed harder and the noise echoed, bouncing off walls and stone only to rebound all around him sounding like a million monsters laughing at once.

~O*O~

Migosp stared into the rippling water at its wavering reflection as it tried to imitate the human's moves. They were really strange! It wondered what genre of weird human dance they danced to.

Wiping its face with a towel, Migosp sat on the edge of the water; its feet dangling into the refreshingly cool stream.

Normally it danced alone, but dancing with the human had been pretty fun since they enjoyed it too; perhaps it had been hanging out with the wrong crowd… it would be amazing to find a friend who loved to dance as well.

* * *

(notes)

Whew, this was a long one XD but it's cool :) hmmm, we are close are we not?

There are so many froggits x-x developing unique personalities for them are hard rip.

Hahaha, Loox and Migosp what a combo, I couldn't be evil to both now could I? :0)

*Definition- Ancillary- a supporting thing/person in a subordinate position

Sweater progress- whole back and 4 inches of front :D I also received my wig :0 needs a bit of straightening but it's cool

I've finished watching fnaf 5 Ahhhh yeah! OUO So until a new game gets released I've accomplished my watch everything goal :)

I got sucked into another fandom that I filed away years ago, Attack on Titan. Yeah, I'm late to the party I know, but I didn't think I could fully understand the story when I first stumbled upon it but this week when I chanced upon it again I couldn't escape XD Honestly, it's a bit too gory for me but the concept is GOOD. The cloak, can we just talk about the green cloak/cape thing for a bit? It looks so comfy; it's my favorite part of the uniforms! O-O I've already drawn up a pattern for it when I have time later ^w^;

Night guys :D

~PhysikLily UwU


	16. Chapter 16: Lavender

**Chapter 16: Lavender**

 _(A/N: Sadness warning? :)_

Whimsun woke up as particles of dust floated all around. The early morning aura penetrated the air—there was no sun to tell the time of day but the monsters could sense it. A feeling deep within bones told the residents of the underground that it was time to act once more.

Taking the small pot housing the minute sprig of lavender to sit on the edge of the building; Whimsun gazed over the forgotten city with weariness. Amid the crumbling bricks and vine strewn buildings among the shadows of the dark crevices and alleys, flickers of movement appeared and vanished quickly. The other residents were up as well but none of them were familiar to the lone monster gazing down at them; the creature clutching the small pot was familiar to no one either.

An inhale, the air smelled of cinderblock and dust—the same as always.

The wind echoed through empty streets and abandoned structures—the same as always.

The coldness of the crumbling bricks seeped in from below filling Whimsun with sadness; it was the same as always.

Things being the same was tiring; it had been such a long time since something had been different. The human had been different –scary? Yes—but different and that had added a spice to mundane, bland days. After the shaking had stopped, realization had hit that it had been… thrilling.

The encounter had been… hmmm the human encounter hadn't led to death… perhaps… Yes it was dangerous but it had been so long since…

Taking a deep breath Whimsun stood up and carefully placed the flower pot back inside. Standing on the edge of the building with the street flowing below, the small monster only hesitated for a second before jumping.

In that moment the still air transformed into strong gales, the exhilarating wind rushed up to meet translucent wings unfurling and Whimsun shot upwards. Catching the zephyr, the aerial monster quickly vanished into the rest of the ruins.

~O*O~

 _Do I remember where it is? I-I have to!_

And with a determined look an ethereal streak of light yellow flickered through rooms and over puzzles until Whimsun reached the cavern.

 _This can't be right, but it looks so familiar!_

The cheerful sunny flowers that had once been a contained patch in the middle of the plateau had overgrown almost every surface, even climbing up the cracked marble pillars. Eyes flickering over the field of yellow, a small streak of purple caught the monster's attention. Breath catching in hopefulness, Whimsun fluttered over to the color and stifled a gasp. Between the choking vines of small sunny flowers peeked a single stalk of familiar violet.

 _No, no , no, NO!_ The monster shrieked ripping away stalks and leaves. The sticky sap leaked onto desperate hands as the flowers bled; Whimsun didn't notice, the small monster struggled to lift heavy vines, thin wings strained. Hands tore and ripped and yanked, sap dripped down saturating fingers and attracting bits of plant matter. A gossamer* wing caught on thorns with a shredding sound but the small monster didn't even notice as the translucent piece fluttered to the flowerbed.

Digits scratched and bruised, Whimsun stopped; the vines had not even budged. Barely able to feel numb arms of aching soul the small monster screamed.

Numbness was replaced with helplessness.

Cut hands covered in sap, flower petals, and thorns, Whimsun collapsed in the field of buttercups. As despair washed over the small monster something broke and the tears spilled out in a flood of sadness.

Droplets ran down Whimsun's face splattering onto waxy petals and sap stained fingers. Shoulders heaving the small monster curled up next to the single protruding stem of lavender and sobbed.

Through the blurry haze of tears a single streak of yellow caught the monster's eye but before the thought was even processed, darkness consumed the light.

~O*O~

" _Do you like it?"_

 _What is it? It's beautiful!_

" _It's called lavender, lovely right? My grand-father brought it down from the world above."_

 _That's so cool, but are you sure you want me to have some? It sounds like a rare treasure!_

" _Don't worry silly, it's called cutting! I can cut you a piece from the main plant and it'll grow back. Meanwhile we can plant the cutting too! Here, let me show you."_

~O*O~

 _Mama! Where are you going?_

" _Oh!... Don't worry child, there is something I need to fight I'll-"_

 _I thought you told me fighting was bad?_

" _When you care about someone enough to fight, then that's noble my child… When I return perhaps your cutting will have flowered."_

…

 _And with a kiss to the forehead, Mama was gone._

~O*O~

Whimsun blinked at the light streaming in through the cracked bricks. _Where? ... Home? ... How?_

The familiar sight of the empty city greeted the monster when enough strength had been gained to stumble toward the ledge.

Throbbing fingers were wrapped in bandages; the white wrappings crawled up to thin elbows. A sharp pain in the back caused wince as realization hit. _When? Who? … Why?_

Picking up the small pot hurt but the monster was careful not to drop it. Sitting on the ledge, the slight breeze blew the single stalk of lavender and as it bobbed in the wind a small monster gazed at it with bittersweet memories. The wind carried the sweet scent of something cooking from somewhere not far away; the Queen was baking… for the human of course. How lucky.

Almost tempted to drop the planter, to let it shatter on the hard bricks below—the monster only clutched the pot tighter.

As the aura of night began to saturate the air, a small violet flower unfolded to meet the world.

* * *

(notes)

Yeah, I realize I diverged the story kinda for a completely unrelated tibit but I'm so busy this week and these background stories are so much faster to write :)

I promised that Whimsun had more of a backstory so here it is :D

(lol, have you noticed that I challenged myself to not use pronouns this chapter?)

*Definition- Gossamer- delicate, glistening (I love this word OUO)

Sweater progress: 9 inches of the front is finished as well OwO

Fandom bits: I've worked on this sweater so long that I've listened to 60 episodes of welcome to night vale x-x

Also, I discovered Tokyo Ghoul which is SO good story wise but it is really gory so if that's not your thing then don't watch it. I've gone through like 5 whole fandoms this month XD but Undertale shall always be with me :)

Wondering how our small bug got back home? Well I'm sure you're not alone in that ;]

Fall is coming

~PhysikLily UwU


	17. Chapter 17: Halloween

**Chapter 17: Halloween**

 _(A/N: Lol, sorry guys the busy bees are swarming my house… take this)_

"Halloween? That's so far away though!" Chara furrowed their eyebrows as they walked, footsteps echoed on seemingly solid bricks "Nappstablook reminded you of it? Bruh, it's only spring…"

The human shrugged even as a small startled sound escaped from their throat and they plummeted, the memories washed over them.

~O*O~

 _Someone pulled a sheet of cloth over them and they stuck their arms through the holes._

" _Heh, you look good as a ghost" The voice stepped back in admiration before handing them something._

 _A small cloth bag with a handle and a surface covered in small shapes made of foam dangled from their fingers. The shapes varied from solid circles to lightning bolts—they never did understand what those shapes were._

" _Ahh! One last thing!" A pressure was applied to both sides of their head and a cord brushed against their jeans._

 _(Why headphones?) They traced into a hardened and slightly wrinkled palm after reaching up to affirm the object._

" _I'm not exactly sure either" An amused voice responded over the flipping of pages "That's how the ghost is drawn in this book though."_

 _(What a strange book!)_

" _I agree, this book is full of really bizarre pictures like rabbits wearing clothes and cloth dummies! Would you like to see it?" An awkward pause followed by the rustling of pages "Oh… right, I'm sorry…"_

 _They giggled, face scrunching up in laughter (That's okay, do you know who wrote it?)_

" _I wish I knew who the illustrator was, the name here has faded all I can make out is… C…Dre…?"_

 _(Well where did you get it? Perhaps you can go back and ask?)_

" _Sadly, I have no idea… this book was… given to me long ago along with a collection of… other things" longing filled the voice as it sighed; the decisive thump of a book closing preceded a click of a lock._

 _A palm touched theirs "Never mind that, come on let's go."_

 _They nodded and hand in hand they walked into the frosty night air._

 _~O*O~_

"Hey, human are you awake?" A wispy voice pierced the churning cloud of memories and a faint coldness touched their hand "You were laying there for a while, I would've woken you sooner but you just looked so peaceful and I didn't want to be a bother."

The colors twirled slightly as they climbed to their feet and reached for their notebook. Leaves crunched underfoot. (Oh, Napstablook! Why are you here? Did you fall too?)

"Oooohhhh, maybe" The ghost seemed a bit unsure and the voice wavered "I'm sorry you're stuck down here too, perhaps it was my fault…"

(Nope, I'm just really clumsy! And you're a ghost right? How can you be stuck anywhere?) They grinned as they imagined realization dawning on the incorporeal creature's face.

"Ohhh! You're right, I am a ghost!" And with that final statement cold air lifted from the room and the wispy words vanished.

"Pfft, that ghost is a weirdo!" Chara burst into laughter as they steered the human toward the vent

(I don't know… ) Scribbled Frisk (They seemed kind of depressed…)

The other child fell silent as the two were spit back out into the room above.

~O*O~

 _Fingers trembled as they picked up a crayon_

 _The smell of wax permeated the air and the carefully kept box rustled_

 _Azzie hadn't used them in a while but they still reminded them of him_

 _The book was a rarity but when it had been requested Dad almost rushed to obtain it_

 _Laying on the floorboards they spread out their supplies and opened the book_

 _It was perfectly blank, clean fresh pages and the crisp whiteness greeted their gaze._

 _Weighing down the sides with the crayon box, the child began to draw._

 _Fingers shook and the lines wobbled_

 _A crayon snapped_

 _Ha, what a joke_

 _They couldn't do this_

 _Ripping out a ruined page they dumped it into the wastebasket_

 _Tossing the crayon halves back into the box, they groaned rolling onto their back._

 _~O*O~_

 _Mom was going insane with nothing to do and the kitchen constantly reeked of burned pie_

 _Darting in they quickly opened the fridge to grab a bar of chocolate before heading back to Azzie's room_

 _Slipping on a crumbled ball of paper they cursed as their jaw smashed into the cold tile_

 _Groaning and rubbing an aching head they stomped the offending paper before picking it up and-_

 _Eyes widened_

 _The trash can was over flowing with rumpled sheets and burned pies_

 _Hands smoothed out the rumpled ball_

 _Eyes scanned the top_

" _butterscotch pie #37"_

…

 _A strangled sob echoed down the hallway. It wasn't theirs._

 _The chocolate was thrown back into the fridge, they had lost their appetite._

 _Tossing the paper back into the trash they walked back to continue their vigil_

 _This one had been particularly bad… Azzie had been out for a week now_

 _Sitting down on the cold floorboards they stared at the shelf with a sigh_

…

" _Screw this!" Punching a bedpost caused a sharp spike of pain_

 _Azzie moaned and they held their sore fist quietly as not to wake him_

 _Sigh_

 _With a defeated huff they took down the box of crayons once again_

 _And slowly the world underground took form inside of the blank book_

 _And suddenly an idea took form in a child's head as they drew,_

 _A dangerous idea? Sure_

 _Stupid? Perhaps._

 _But, they had nothing to lose… nothing but-_

 _No. they had nothing to lose_

 _A shaky laugh echoed down the halls—this time it belonged to them._

 _~O*O~_

" _Would you like some hot milk?" The door closed as the warm air greeted them, welcoming them back into the house._

 _They nodded furiously as they tore off the headphones and heavy sheet, dropping the now bulging bag onto the floor; they made their way to the old couch and curled up. Sock clad toes wiggled as they immersed themself into a blanket. It was warm, so warm._

 _Snug and cozy under a blanket with a cup of warm milk, with a pinch of cinnamon, the small child felt their eyes drooping as a kind voice began to read aloud from a book._

 _Something about pies…._

 _And a warm blackness followed them from memories into reality as they fell down yet another hole._

 _The voice, they did not remember her face…_

* * *

 _(notes)_

Honestly, I'm going to admit that I typed this out last second. Sorry that it's so late but I have been tremendously busy with tournaments and homework x-x

It's almost Halloween, I tried ok?

More angsty backstories since they are the fastest for me to come up with :p

*Definition-spoopy- jk, jk, cut me a break, it's almost a holiday so I declare a vacation from vocab for this week X)

Sweater progress- rushing to finish aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

Eyyyy, I went to a debate tournament over the weekend and it was kinda fun c: the bad part is that I lose homework time so the buildup is real when I get back :/

Is our protagonist losing their memory? How did she get the book? What even is this chapter?

Find out next time on ProblemPoint ;]

ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD

~PhysikLily UwU


	18. Chapter 18: Replacement

**Chapter 18: Replacement**

 _The wind howled through the dusty streets and whistled as it passed cracks in bricks and gaping holes._

 _The tall grass whipped back and forth at the edge of the city._

 _A steep bank led down towards the ruins within the ruins and a single shadow leaned over a rotting rail._

 _The shadow stretched out toward the buildings as if longing for the quiet shelter of once solid structures and the creature sighed._

 _A sweet smell wafted through the air, so it was that time again. It had been quite a while since the last one. They said this would be the last one, that's what they said every time._

 _The shadow quivered not from anger or fear but simply from wariness_

…

 _Footsteps echoed upon bricks, getting closer and closer. The steps weren't definite clicks or soft taps; the steps were gentle slaps._

 _This one wasn't wearing any shoes, what a trooper._

 _A second faint sound accompanied the first, a sniff, no—there was only one after all…_

 _An air of unease blew in from the entrance_

 _Stomach churning the shadow stood their ground; there had been too much build up for this._

 _Backing down. Running away. Falling apart. It just couldn't happen, not now, not today._

 _The footsteps drew even closer, the archway's crumbling purple brick wavered. No. That was just their imagination… or was it?_

 _From the darkness emerged a figure-_

 _Why did the human look familiar? A closer look…_

 _No. They weren't the one the pictures were of… but they looked eerily similar_

 _A quick head shake, deep breath, eyes open with determination_

 _A greeting_

 _They respond in a friendly smile and a quick glance to the left_

 _The human moved forward slowly- cautiously_

 _The shadow backed up_

 _Fear_

 _Head cocked to one side, listening, begin to move again_

 _Wood creaked as they leaned upon it gazing over the city with closed eyes_

 _The shadow backed up further, breath caught as their foot kicked against something hard_

 _Looking down they muffled a scream_

 _The human turned and a flash of curiosity crossed their features._

 _They began to move toward it_

 _No. No. No_

 _The monster kicked it away but the plastic seemed to disappear from view only to drop back into sight_

 _The grey plastic made a dull clunk as it hit the floor_

 _Bending down the human scooped up the object in wonder_

 _Fingers crawled over the worn and faded surface, exploring_

 _Realization hit them but they didn't look scared or murderous…_

 _They looked happy?_

 _They waved the plastic grey knife around in the air giving the wall excited gestures_

 _Arguing_

 _Suddenly the knife was gone, it just vanished from view_

 _One moment there, the next not_

 _The human looked happy as they reached into a pocket._

 _The monster flinched but the human only brought out a small tab of paper and a short painted twig_

 _T-toriel? The monster gulped_

 _They should tell the truth, the Queen would come looking either way_

 _She was carrying groceries out of the city earlier_

 _The human wrinkled their brows in confusion as they made gestures toward the buildings_

 _An answer_

 _They seemed satisfied and as the human left they turned back around to give the monster a gesture of gratitude_

 _The human was small, they looked weak. They were no threat to the Queen and yet they were._

 _She would be hurt when the news is delivered, she always is._

 _The last one had made it pretty far, not far enough though_

 _And even if they did make it…_

 _Well the King was waiting._

 _So with that they turned toward the city with a breath of relief and—with a strong bound—leaped over the planks and down into the ruins._

 _~O*O~_

 _The plastic knife fit nicely into their sheath, of course it did._

 _They remembered the day they had left it there, next to the well oiled wood._

 _And it was still there, of course it was. Monsters never moved something that didn't belong to them on the belief that the original owner may one day return for their lost item._

 _Once they had hated the false grey, the dull edge, but now they fingered the hilt as they walked_

 _It had been so long._

 _Nevertheless, they were glad to have it back now._

 _As they walked through the archway they glanced up._

 _~O*O~_

 _Warm air swelled with the scent of sweetness_

 _Orange, red, and yellow leaves swirled upon the bricks like small tornadoes_

 _A sharp pang in their chest made them look up_

 _The tree._

 _Why was it…?_

 _No. was this where?_

 _No. This was where…._

 _The dark ebony branches stretched upwards, straining to touch the sky but being met instead with the ceiling of the cavern._

 _The dark trunk was wide with bark, the sapling was gone._

" _Hey, Chara! Look at this!"_

 _Mmm, let me sleep…_

" _Come on! Check this out, isn't it cool?"_

 _Hmmm, what is it?_

" _Dad grew it for me, it's a new hybrid! Look at the dark stem, that's from a dream wood!"_

 _What's that?_

" _No way! You haven't seen a dream wood? I have to show you some time! They look so cool!"_

 _Why does it look like its on fire?_

" _It's mixed with a bit of magic so it stays in the fall season forever, awesome right?"_

 _Mmmkay, now can I go back to sleep?_

" _Come on, it's already morning! Dad said that we can go plant this outside, do you want to help me?"_

 _Laaaater, it's only 5 am, let me sleep_

" _We always wake up at this time! Hmm, if you don't come help me you'll have to eat mom's cooking!"_

 _Ahhh, nope. Nope. Nope. I'm coming_

 _~O*O~_

" _Daaaad, why isn't it growing? It's been months!"_

" _Give it some time… hmmm…"_

" _What?"_

" _I may have mixed two incompatible plants on accident… some things just aren't meant to go together."_

" _Ahh well, even if it stays little forever, it's still cute. Thanks dad!"_

" _Heh, no problem son"_

" _Hey, Chara!... Where are you? Hey! Chara! What's wrong?"_

 _~O*O~_

 _Just take it._

 _~PhysikLily_


	19. Chapter 19: Home

**Chapter: Home**

 _(A/N: Lol, I know, sorry guys, my busy days will be over in around 2 weeks :)_

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would!" A slightly panicked voice drew closer, the click of a phone. "Oh! How did you get here my child, are you hurt?"

Frisk shook their head vigorously, they didn't exactly know where they were—but they had found Toriel. This monster at least seemed nice… Flowey had seemed nice… they hoped he was ok.

"We got bored" But their guide's voice didn't sound bored, it sounded… weary?

"You're covered in bruises! There, there, let me heal you." The warm feeling was getting familiar but Toriel's 'healing' was slightly warmer than those of the strange save stars.

"Are you feeling better?"

A nod

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone for so long! It was irresponsible for me to try to surprise you like this… It's just-oh!" The monster seemed embarrassed "Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer… come small one."

Frisk gave their guide a questioning look.

"I have no idea what she's up to now" Chara huffed pulling their ward around the dark tree trunk and toward the small house.

Frisk stopped to tilt their chin toward the left of the door and the taller child covered surprise with a frustrated hiss "Fine, go ahead."

Touching the light a strange heaviness filled them, causing the shorter child to stumble backwards.

 _File Saved._ That was different. Bad different.

"Hey, you okay?" Arms caught them.

 _Heavy breathing. Eyes wide. Arms locked. Fingers clawing. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch._

"Hey! Frisk!" A sharp sting on their cheek as a hand slapped down upon their face "Hello?"

Moaning they staggered toward the door flashing a signal toward their guide before disappearing inside.

"Okay? Yeah right!" And so the green clad child followed.

~O*O~

"Do you smell that?" Mom- Toriel smiled as she reappeared from the kitchen an oven mitt in her hand. "Surprise! It's a butterscotch-cinnamon pie!"

The ragged edges of one ear fluttered slightly in the air as the boss monster led the human down the hall. "I made it to celebrate your arrival! I want you to enjoy living here, so I'll hold off on snail pie for tonight." Toriel smiled as she opened the first door—his door—and a sharp pain hit the translucent child as they stepped into the room.

Chara didn't notice the slight panic in their ward's face, nor the worried look on Toriel's visage as they collapsed to their knees on the braided rug.

"Oh! Is something burning?!" A voice exclaimed "make yourself at home, I'll be right back!"

The pounding of feet against wood planks followed. A shadow fell over them and they looked up.

 _Are you okay?_ The concerned look of a human loomed over them before holding out a hand. _Come on, get up!_

So they braced themself as small hands pulled them up. "Thanks" a whispered as they looked around the room: a dusty dresser, the peeling picture of a flower, a small lamp…

"Ahhggg" As their head pounded the green clad child felt their body hit the soft cloud of the bed

Frisk tried to help them up again but it only caused their head to explode into bursts of pain "Don't touch me!" they hissed, slapping away the human's hand. "Go to sleep!"

~O*O~

Frisk carefully climbed into the bed, skirting around the moaning form of their guide to sink into the airy bed. The sheets enveloped their arms and body as air puffed out from the quilts, the musty smell of undisturbed bedding intermingled with fresh breezes was pleasant.

Yawning, they blinked at the dark shape of their guide slowly sliding off the edge of the quilt. Opening their eyes, the smaller child carefully peeled the covers back to drag Chara completely onto the bed before covering their guide back up—their fingers seemed to phase through the elder child a couple times before gaining a firm grip.

Curling back up, Frisk felt their eyelids growing heavy as sleep embraced them.

~O*O~

Groaning Chara blinked watching the ceiling blur and dance, _Where were… Why were they sleeping on Azzie's bed?_ Taking a deep breath the dizzy child turned toward the quilts bracing themself against a wave of vertigo*. When the room cleared of fuzzy edges they recognized the mussed bangs of the human. _Ahh, okay, but how did I get tucked in?_

Sitting up brought back a rush of dizziness which was offset by the sight of a familiar silhouette, a slice of pie sat in the middle of the rug upon a small ceramic plate. _Was m- Toriel still trying to bake? Even after..._

Deciding not to tempt fate, the child skirted the plate and slipped out of the door into the well lit hallway. Looking down they gasped, the hole in their foot from the spike had vanished! They walked across the hardwood floors grinning while watching their body become a tad more opaque. The smells coming from the kitchen made their stomach growl, despite everything they found themself walking toward the scent.

The sight of Toriel sitting by the fire startled them but at the same time it was so familiar, as the boss monster glanced up from her book the child sprinted quickly into the kitchen. Catching their breath, they peeked around the corner; she hadn't gotten up from the chair, great!

The checkered tiles gleamed under the sunlight in the quaint space; a couple pots hung from the wall, a fridge stood awkwardly in the corner, and a huge pie dominated the center of the countertop.

Their stomach growled louder.

Grabbing a knife from the counter they carefully cut a slice out of the pie and scooped a spoonful into their mouth cautiously… it was good!

Scrapping the rest of the slice onto a plate, the child grabbed a fork and began to shovel the sweet goodness into their mouth. Setting the plate into the sink after devouring the pie, the child opened the refrigerator with translucent fingers to find something to drink … no way.

Sitting upon the top shelf were three bars of dark chocolate.

* * *

(Notes)

Whew, we made it to Toriel's!

I tried making butterscotch-cinnamon pie once- it was okay but not the best. Perhaps I'll try again for Thanksgiving :)

Someone is not okay… No one is okay.

*Definition- Vertigo- sensations of dizziness

(Welp. Rip America)

Sorry for the last chapter, I was so done by the time I typed it up so I didn't add any notes :p

~PhysikLily UwU


	20. Chapter 20: Pie

**Chapter 20: Pie**

Frisk blinked and watched as the swirling colors returned to them, the amorphous blobs seemed to dance more slowly than yesterday—which was good since that made it easier to concentrate.

The soft quilt smelled like sunshine, so did the pillow, and it made them just want to lay there in the warm bedding cocoon.

Suddenly they remembered, they were at Toriel's! And all of the previous day's memories came rushing back: the puzzles, the monsters, the save stars, Chara… wait. Where was Chara?

Patting the blankets resulted in nothing, their guide wasn't there. Sitting up they stretched, arms reaching toward the ceiling, before reluctantly peeling off the warm covers. Feet touched the cold floorboards causing the child to flinch before quickly hopping onto the rug.

A sweet smell made them pause; sniffing the air they turned toward the scent—toes bumped into a smooth cold object. Bending down to investigate, fingers squished into something wet. They froze and quickly pulled their digits out of the object. Licking off sticky fingers their eyes widened; whatever they had stuck their fingers into was sweet! Bending down once again they carefully ran both hands along the carpet stopping when they felt the plate. Picking it up in both hands—and securing the fork under a thumb—they carefully walked into the hallway with it.

 _(This must be the pie Toriel made for me, but why would she put it on the floor? I almost stepped in it…)_

"Oh! You're awake already?" a familiar voice asked as they walked into a warmer room, the pie in tow.

Frisk nodded, heading toward the voice. It grew warmer.

"I just want to know how glad I am to have you living here" Toriel smiled as Frisk walked up to them "I can't wait to show you my snail recipes and my favorite bug hunting spots! Oh! I've even prepared a curriculum for your education! But I'm getting ahead of myself, did you want something my child?"

They sat down the pie on the large chair's armrest to take out the notebook—it was almost full, perhaps they could ask Toriel for a new one?

((Have you seen Chara anywhere? I want to share my pie with them!)) Frisk turned the paper toward the amiable monster.

Toriel's breath grew shaky and Frisk heard something like a book drop to the floor. Was she scared? Sad? The human's brow furrowed in confusion as they tried to read the boss monster's emotions.

"No, I haven't seen them," a shaky voice whispered "Why don't you take this and go look for them?" trembling fingers handed the plate of pie back to them.

 _(Weird)_ Frisk walked back down the hall while swinging the fork around like a makeshift stick. Speaking of it, where had they forgotten the branch?

A soft sound danced through the air, a muffled sound of humming? Who was…Chara? Heading toward the noise caused the child's waist to smash into the corner of a table with a dull thud; they bit back a silent scream and almost dropped the plate as they clutched their side. The vase on the table quivered violently but didn't crash to the floor and just as Frisk breathed a sigh of relief the humming stopped. A door opened with the creak of old hinges.

"What are you doing?!" a slightly peeved voice snapped

 _(Chara!)_

Setting the plate on the on the hallway table Frisk pulled out their notebook. ((I found you! Want some of this pie?))

"No, I already had some" Chara sighed pulling them into the room.

Frisk frowned as they stabbed the fork into the pie slice; this room felt different than the one they had slept in, it was bigger and… colder.

"It's Toriel's room" Chara answered their ward's unasked question and flopped onto the bed as Frisk sat on the floor to enjoy their pie.

It was cold but still great. The hints of cinnamon burst through rich cream flavor, all cleaned up by soft buttery crust. It reminded Frisk of… they couldn't remember… Nevertheless Toriel was talented at practicing gastronomy* for the pie was delicious.

Finishing the pie in a couple thoughtful forkfuls, they placed the empty plate on the desk after Chara called them over.

"Look, it's Toriel's diary!" Chara's voice rose mischievously "want me to read the circled passage?"

Frisk's eyes widened in curiosity and as they bit their lip thinking, their guide began to read.

"Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling _BONELY_ …" Chara groaned, trailing off as the realization of the joke hit.

Rustling of paper "The rest of the pages are filled with jokes of a similar caliber."

((Can you read more of them?))

"No."

((A tour around your house then?)) they looked in Chara's direction pleadingly

"Fine" Chara sighed, internally grateful for the chance to look around some more.

"That's just a regular bucket…. Of snails!" The human reached into the bucket to pick up a small creature and placed it on their empty plate—did they think the snail could eat pie remains? Chara decided not to tell them that pie crust had salt in it.

"It's an encyclopedia of subterranean plants" Chara peered at the thick volume with interest as the human flipped to a random page "Typha, a group of wetland flowering plants with brown oblong seed pods, more commonly known as ... water sausages?!"

They laughed "I think she has some in the hallway."

((Do people eat them if they're sausages?)) Frisk wrote curiously.

"Uhhggg, I hope not!" Chara's face scrunched up in distaste.

The human walked into a dresser "You peer inside, SCANDELOUS!" Chara boomed making their voice dangerously low.

Frisk backed away quickly before their guide finished with "It's Toriel's sock drawer!"

The shorter child scowled at their guide almost walking into a cactus in the corner of the room before Chara pulled them backwards. The human moaned, rubbing their head before turning to give the taller child a questioning, and at the same time annoyed, look.

"You almost ran into a cactus, truly the most tsundere of plants!"

At their ward's confused look Chara just sighed and steered the shorter kid toward the door "Let's explore a different room."

~O*O~

They opened a drawer "flower seeds and broken crayons…" They closed the drawer on the ancient packets of seeds; the images which had once been printed on yellowed paper was rubbed away long ago from handling. The familiar smell of wax escaped from the drawer—it hadn't been opened for a while.

Frisk stopped to turn toward a wall, hands reached out touching the mirror.

"It's you" Chara smiled sadly at the reflection which did not show them, only the human.

"Oh!" The transparent child perked up, guiding Frisk toward a tall vase. "It's a water sausage!"

On the way back down the hall both children stopped at a closed door.

"Room under… renovations" Chara read out loud, the sign was faded; it had been under renovations for a long time…

They opened another drawer "It's an old calendar from the beginning of 201X…" Chara's voice trailed off "Hey Frisk? What year is it?"

"N-No way!"

It had been a long time after all.

* * *

(notes)

Eyyyy! We've made it to the 20th chapter! :D

I may or may not be planning evil shenanigans for the next chapter :]

Don't you get the feeling we're forgetting something?

I'm so glad I got this chapter pre-typed since next week is like my busiest week this year x-x

*Definition-Gastronomy- the art of good eating :)

The infinity train trailer (check youtube) was pretty good, it'll be nice to have a bit of a mystery show after Gravity Falls ended :p

That feeling when a show you like is coming off one of their _many, many_ hiatuses.

I _really_ need to draw reference pictures for everyone, maybe during Thanksgiving O-O;

Night guys

~PhysikLily UwU


	21. Chapter 21: Lost

**Chapter 21: Lost**

 _(A/N: Shrimp are hitting the fan in this chapter, a warning: may cause slight uncomfortableness?)_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Chara hissed as Frisk closed the front door with a squeak. "I know you feel like you need the relic but can't you get it in the morning?" The taller child squinted their eyes as they looked up; the lighting wasn't much different but the air was cooler and Toriel had put out the fire in the hearth allowing for the shadows all around them to grow longer.

"Maybe we should go back" They hissed louder "Toriel will be worried if she finds you gone!"

The human turned around to make a shushing motion before pulling out their tattered notebook. Hmmm… it was full.

"Here" Chara sighed holding out their palm, they would need to find their ward a new notebook.

((It can't wait, I can't believe I lost it! It could be anywhere! Mrs. S- … My teacher would be so disappointed! It was her treasure! I hav-))

"Slow down" Chara tapped the smaller child on the shoulder "I can barely understand you, but it's fine. No monster is going to take something that isn't theirs… it's… not like on the surface. It'll be easier to see in the day time-"

Frisk gave them a withering look that resonated: Well I can't _see_ so that won't be a problem will it?

And spinning around they ran into the ruins leaving their guide standing alone in the dim light; cursing, Chara followed.

~O*O~

The cold night air stung their lungs as they ran and the hard earth felt moist beneath their feet.

They had to find it, they _had_ to find the music disc. Where was it?

Footsteps echoed distantly behind them, someone was calling their name; they didn't stop. Their throat hurt, the air scraped against it as they breathed heavily; it was probably a bad idea to be running but they didn't care.

Thoughts fragmented as they gasped for air; they were going too fast, this was stupid, they should've listened. Feet slapped against cold bricks slowly growing numb.

 _Crash!_ The foliage slapped their face as they hit the floor with a dull thud. Stunned, they barely had time to catch their breath before they felt the sudden tug of battle mode.

"Vegetoid came out of the earth!" a deep voice cackled with a slight Russian accent "Serving size is one monster-not monitored by the USDA."

Frisk backed away slowly trying to catch their breath; the smell of steamed carrots and peas made their stomach growl causing them to regret only nibbling on the slice of snail pie that Toriel had baked for dinner.

"Oh my" The monster murmured sympathetically after hearing the sounds of a hungry child "here, eat your greens."

A couple warm vegetables landed in their outstretched hands. After enduring the bland orphanage cuisine, and questionable pies, the aroma of cooked vegetables smelled heavenly. Shrugging off the little voice in their head warning them about strangers, they leaned forward to take a bite of vegetable. The carrot was amazing; the signature tangy flavor of warm vegetable complemented by bursts of pepper warmed their tummy.

As they turned around to thank the vegetable giving monster, a shrill voice cut through the air.

"Get away from my child!" smoke filled the room and Frisk heard a pained grunt.

Someone slapped the remaining vegetables out of their hands before turning toward them.

"What were you _thinking?!_ Sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to eat some stranger's food and get attacked by monsters? Do you know how worried I was? You could've gotten hurt, or worse, _killed!_ "

They barely heard a word Toriel said; the smoke crawled into their mouth and nose, acrid tendrils reached down their throat making them gag. The food turned into a cold lump in their stomach; the smoke seeped in—they could taste the ashes.

Turning around they heaved—throwing up all of the things they had eaten earlier—until their stomach was empty.

The colors dulled into an endless landscape of black, then they no longer heard the frantic shouts.

~O*O~

Chara sighed finally allowing themself a moment to breathe; Toriel was baking, she always baked when something was wrong—at least she had gotten better at it.

The human's skin was pale and sweat glistened on their brow and they slept; a pained expression flitted across their face every now and then.

They needed to do something.

Pulling a notebook out of a drawer and procuring a pair of scissors from Toriel's room, they sat down to cut smaller notebooks from the larger one.

~O*O~

Blinking, Chara hissed as light seeped into their eye, when had they fallen asleep?

On the floor sat a small stack of notebooks along with a messy pile of paper scraps. At least they had finished that job. A quick glance at the sleeping lump—good, Frisk wasn't awake yet.

Rolling their head to dispel the neck cramp obtained by sleeping on the rug they walked down the hallway. Reaching out Chara opened the front door slowly as not to disturb Toriel. Perhaps they could find some of Azzie's old mint plants, the smell of mint made them alert, maybe it worked on humans too?

 _*Crack*_ Looking down their eyes widened.

"How….?"

Tossing the broken stick into the leaf pile by the house, Chara scooped up the no-longer-lost relic and examined it. They turned the knob a few times and was pleasantly surprised when the tune began to play. It wasn't broken!

Looking around they saw no one, shrugging Chara walked back inside to set the object back upon the nightstand where it could be easily returned when the human woke up. _Now for the mint._

Placing a hand on the hilt of the plastic knife, they turned toward the door not noticing the fluttering of a small petal from where it was wedged firmly between two metal pieces of the arcane* relic. But Frisk would.

~O*O~

"Ouch" Vegetoid winced as the Whimsun wrapped his singed leaves in a thin cotton bandage "Careful now."

"What happened to you?!" the smaller monster asked curiously as she began wrapping more carefully

"It was the queen" He sighed "I should've known better than to interact with the human."

"Are you stupid?!" Whimsun hissed as she finished up "Didn't your parents teach you not to mess with the humans? You know how the queen is, they say she never got over the first one."

"Yeah, yeah" Vegetoid groaned as they got up "The human just looked so worried and food always helps so I thought… You're right, it won't happen again. Hehe, thanks for fixing me up kid."

"No problem" Whimsun smiled packing up her first aid kit "Stay safe Chef!"

* * *

(notes)

We are getting deep in the plot now :D

Don't hate goat mom until you read her p.o.v. which should be in the next couple chapters :)

Lol, vegetoid is russian in my head? I tried out several different accents but I liked Russian the best :p

*Definition- Arcane- understood by few, mysterious, secret (the real definition, lol)

So that's what we were forgetting :0

When you choose dinner is Vegetoid feeding you itself? O-O;

My computer got the black screen of death thing and I haven't been able to use it for a couple days now so I typed this chapter on a different computer :(

*Takes deep breath* Okay, I need to start working on Sans O-O

SU spoilers- have you guys seen gem harvest? When Rebecca feels the need to tell us to chill, that episode was great and despite what people say, she isn't taking sides :D

Eat your greens!

~PhysikLily UwU


	22. Chapter 22: Pack

**Chapter 22: Pack**

Frisk groaned as they sat up; their head pounded and throbbed as they placed a hand on their feverishly cold forehead. It was cold. Why was it so cold? Their bangs stuck to their forehead with perspiration as they blinked.

"Oh you're awake!" a slightly sleepy voice yawned "Do you feel okay? You've been out for around two days…"

Aiming a thumbs up at Chara's direction, they threw off the covers but as soon as they stood up causing Frisk to stumble backward. Chara caught them with a soft grunt before they tumbled to the floor.

"Are you sure you're fine?" their voice had lost the sleepy edge and had developed a slightly worried tinge.

Frisk breathed heavily as they tried to stand up; their legs and arms felt weak and their body felt as if it was made of lead.

"Hey, take it easy" Chara sat them gently on the bed. "Oh! I actually have something for you!"

Frisk felt an object being placed into their palm and after running a couple fingers over the glossy surface and spiraling wire clasp, they easily deduced the appearance of a small notebook.

"Like it?" Chara's voice sounded proud "I cut it out of a notebook."

Frisk gave their guide a weak smile after letting it slip off of their face and attempting to stand up again.

"What are you doing?!" Chara hissed after tackling Frisk and inciting a coughing fit.

(I need to go find it) their hand was shaky as they traced the words.

"Hang on," Chara called, voice getting more distant as they moved across the room. "Here you go" They sounded cheery as they placed a cold object into Frisk's hands.

Their guide watched in amusement as their eyes widened.

The cold metal of the familiar knobs and tines and bumps were a pleasant surprise and a strange wave of happiness rushed over them as they recognized the disc.

Lunging up, they tackled Chara with a hug before collapsing into another bout of coughs.

"Yeah, yeah" The not sick child carefully peeled Frisk off of them and tucked them back in "Your artifact is safe, go back to sleep you look like a zombie."

Frisk made a protesting face and Chara steeled their voice saying "Sleep" in a gentle but firm voice.

As Frisk heard the soft *chhhk* of the door closing they felt something lodged between the metal parts of the music disc. After pulling it out and rubbing it inbetween thumb and forefinger a look of realization passed over their face as they fell into deep sleep.

 _Thanks Flowey_

~O*O~

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chara asked dubiously as they gathered up a couple of items.

Frisk nodded as they stood up and pocketed the mechanical disc.

A long inhale followed by a heavy sigh. "Alright"

(You don't have to come, this is your home right?)

"Well…" They mumbled under their breath "It used to be."

(Well, … T-Toriel would be worried if you just left right?) The "t" in Toriel was written in shaky letters.

Chara glanced at them "No, its fine… I doubt she cares about me that much. And plus, how would you cope on your own? You'd probably walk off a cliff or something."

A brief pause before Frisk wrote out another line (I think she cares more than you think).

"… Anyways, if I wanted to go I would. And I do want to go with you so I'm going" Chara affixed a determined look on their face as they set down the remaining notebooks on the bed and crossed the room toward the dresser.

"Hmmm, let's see… if we're going on an adventure we need to be prepared…" Throwing open the doors of the dresser they were pleasantly surprised to find everything how they had left it. A row of sweaters and shirts hung above a small pile of objects below. "If I remember correctly, outside of the door is the mountains? So if you want you can try on these pants… I'm not sure what size you are but Azzie's clothes should fit okay… shoes?"

(If it's snowing in the mountains long pants would be cool, but I kind of like going barefoot)

"In the snow?! You're going to get frostbite or something!" Chara hissed stubbornly as they dug through the pile of items beneath the hanging clothes "I found a pair of sandals, flip-flops, and more sandals… the shoe choices aren't the best but I think you should at least wear _something_."

(Okay then, sandals are fine but once we get somewhere warmer I get to take them off)

"Why?" They raised an eyebrow as they dumped a pair of sandals onto the floor.

(If I can feel the earth underfoot it helps me navigate, plus it's fun! Haven't you ever felt soft spring grass beneath your toes?)

"Sure, sure… how about a scarf?" Chara ruffled through the pile distractedly "Oh! I found an old backpack! This makes so much easier, we can bring supplies now."

(Are you sure we should just be taking things? This isn't your room right?)

"… Nah, it's fine. I don't think he would mind." They turned their attention back toward the pile "socks, shoes… check. Hmmm, socks and sandals… oh well. A coat would be good… yeah… no coat… hopefully the sweater will do."

Slowly but surely they began to pack the small faded red sack full of extra clothes and notebooks and pens while they folded the winter clothes into a small pile.

(Should I put on the clothes now? Or wait until we ask…)

"I… I think we should just go" Chara paused for a moment to listen down the hall, after hearing the sounds of pans clinking in the kitchen they glanced at the supplies "do you want to wait until you've had some food? You haven't eaten for days."

(I don't know, weirdly I'm not hungry?)

"Well it's night right now so do you want to wait until tomorrow? You can get a good night's sleep and we can start off bright and early tomorrow. I'll go tell Toriel we're leaving tomorrow" Chara smiled as they closed the door. They didn't really feel like doing anything but sneaking some rations.

 _Wake up Chara! You are the future of humans and monsters!_

 _No._

 _You aren't Chara. Alright then._

 _Wake up Frisk!_

* * *

(notes)

It is so late here right now.

I have a bad habit of oversalting my writing with commas… I'll try to fix it.

Next week might be tough, I have a tournament so it might be an abnormal chapter. Hang with me guys :p

Sun and Moon is pretty cool?

One word: Podcasts

Hail and well met my friend

~PhysikLily UwU


	23. Chapter 23: Fire

**Chapter 23: Fire**

 _(A/N: If you want to play heartache… ;)_

"Come on, we should just go" Chara hissed as they followed Frisk down the hall.

((I can't leave without saying thank you in person)) Frisk scribbled as they walked.

"…fine" Chara sighed, Toriel wasn't _that_ overprotective right? She had always let Azzie and them do whatever, perhaps losing them had changed that… she attacked Vegetoid for example… hopefully this conversation went well.

"Oh! You're up my child!" Toriel glanced up from her book with wide eyes "Do you feel better?" She touched Frisk's forehead "At least your fever is gone… oh, did you want something? Are you hungry? I baked a lot of pies."

((I'm fine, actually I wanted to tell you thank you for letting me stay here for so long; you don't have to worry about me anymore since I'm leaving today)).

Chara studied Toriel's face as she read the slightly messy words; the boss monster froze for a moment before she laughed—her eyes didn't laugh with her mouth.

"Would you like to hear something from the book I'm reading? Snails don't make very good shoelaces!"

Frisk looked at the maternal monster with confusion as their brows wrinkled.

"… I-I have to do something, stay here" Setting down her book Toriel walked out of the room with intentful steps.

"What is she doing?!" Chara blinked in confusion as they followed—dragging Frisk along as they went.

~O*O~

Frisk gripped the notebook in one hand and Chara's fingers in the other as they followed their guide down stairs after stairs.

"Basement… why would she go to the basement… no. No. She wouldn't!" Chara cursed as they walked faster causing Frisk to stumble behind them.

As they were greeted by earthy air, Chara stopped causing them to bump into the taller child.

"Toriel is standing in the middle for the corridor" Chara hissed "She's turning around… I think she heard us."

"Ahead of us is the exit to the ruins" Toriel's voice sounded out determinedly "It's the only exit and a one way path… I am going to destroy it."

 _(No! Why can't you let me leave?)_

"That way no one can ever leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs." With that she walked away.

Chara turned to them "Do you want to go back upstairs?"

They shook their head furiously and giggling, Chara led them further.

"Every child that falls down here meets the same fate… I've seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die." Toriel's voice ended in a steely tone "They… Asgore… will kill you. I'm only trying to protect you… please… go to your room." And she walked away, her footsteps echoed on bricks bouncing back down the long hallway.

Without a word, Chara began to walk forward and Frisk followed.

"Do not try to stop me, this is your final warning" Toriel spoke one last sentence before turning a corner. Hand in hand the children followed.

"I've never been able to save anyone before. This time is different, this time I can't afford to mess up." Her voice changed from somber to serious in moments as Chara stopped walking "If you want to leave so badly then prove yourself. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive out there!"

"She's turning around" Chara hissed "I think you have to fight her."

 _Bzzt Bzzzt Bzzzzzt_

Frisk let go of Chara's hand as they stepped forward; all around them the familiar feeling of battle mode began to surround them. Only this time, instead of their soul being pulled out of their body it felt as if the world was melting away from them leaving them vulnerable.

"Try talking her out of it!" Chara's voice sounded far away.

They gripped their notebook and pen harder ((Please, stop!))

No response.

The air filled with the sounds of heat vents turning on and the room grew hotter.

"To the left!" Chara cursed as they pushed Frisk.

"Aauugghhh!" an anguished scream punctured the air.

 _(Chara! Are you hurt badly? I… what should I do?!)_

No response.

Frisk opened their mouth only to burst into a coughing fit.

 _Ironically talking doesn't seem to be the solution in this situation._

The sounds of heat bursting up caused the colors to swirl around anxiously.

They ducked and jumped to the right as a heat wave hit them.

Right, left, jump. What were they doing? They were dodging something, something hot?

As they moved, a burst of flame caught their sleeve sending a burning smell into the air.

 _(Toriel please!)_

Their arm seared causing them to grip in in agony as heat scorched their leg sending blazing sparks into their hair.

As they collapsed into a heap of pain, the smell of burning flesh and hair caused the colors to freeze, crack, and shatter. As the color splintered they flew in thousands of directions and the darkness closed in.

~O*O~

 _It was hot in the apartment, too hot for a winter afternoon._

 _The heat rushed toward them as they opened the door and stepped inside; something wasn't right._

" _Mom?" They dropped the small cloth bag that they brought to school everyday near the door._

" _Hey Mom where are you?" taking off their shoes they closed the door and began navigating the familiar path toward the kitchen "Is something burning?"_

 _Something felt very wrong and it made their insides feel wobbly like pudding about to fall over._

 _It was way too hot, the air felt suffocating as it pressed down on them from all around._

 _It was hotter here and the smell of burning permeated the air, smoke and ashes swirled around them._

 _They needed to leave. Leave! Their head screamed._

 _But they couldn't, not without Mom._

" _MOM!" They screamed louder. The taste of ashes made them feel sick._

" _Oh honey you're home" a soft voice called out from further ahead "come to mother."_

" _Mom," Frisk felt relieved as they walked toward the voice "why is the apartment so hot, is it burning?"_

 _The colors swirled faster_

" _Come sit with mother" Mom sounded calm, perhaps it was just a small fire_

 _Someone picked them up and set them on a lap, arms wrapped around them and they were calm for a moment._

" _Are you going to stop the fire? The landlord is going to get mad if we burn the place down."_

" _Oh honey, it's okay, we're going somewhere else, somewhere better." Mom's voice was still calm, they were confused, where were they going? "No one will ever be able to separate us after we leave here."_

" _Where are we going?" They coughed the ashes and acrid smoke filled their nostrils; it hurt to breathe "No matter, we should really put out the fire Mom." They tried to get out of Mom's embrace._

" _But the fire's our friend honey" Her arms tightened around them, she placed her chin on the top of their head "Don't you want to come with mother?"_

 _Mom wasn't okay, perhaps she was sick again. Last time she was sick it had been scary._

 _Mom needed a doctor, they had to go get one._

 _It was hard to breathe, the colors had begun to get fuzzy._

 _They struggled harder, her arms tightened into a straightjacket, bones digging into their ribs._

 _The last thing they remembered were the distant sounds of sirens._

…

…

…

Frisk! Frisk, stay determined!

You have to wake up!

* * *

(notes)

I've been waiting a while to write this scene :)

It's got to be one of my favorite so far.

During break I might get some extra time to write OuO

Hehehe, looks like this kid has already had plenty of bad times…

Who knew ghosts could die?

I think I've finally crossed the last threshold of nerdy-ness O-O I asked for a dice set for Christmas… help.

You can't wake up something that is already dead.

~PhysikLily UwU


	24. Chapter 24: Burn

**Chapter 24: Burn**

 _(A/N: This chapter contains feelings known to make people uncomfortable such as: rage/ giving up. You have been warned.)_

The flames crackled as they consumed the dry cracked wood of the lean to, the flames flickered creating their own light and a hooded figure watched them with interest as they devoured the old shack. Tongues of fire licked at the sky competing with one another to reach higher, untouched sky; the mellow orange yellows danced in beautiful entropy* with one another and as they slowly began to subside the small hooded figure slipped away.

~O*O~

The sharp clip clops of heeled shoes echoed down the hallways as a lithe** blue scaled monster carefully made her way down the cream-colored tiled hallway, a tray of teacups and saucers balanced on a ceramic platter, as she walked with purpose toward the throne room.

"Your Majesty, tea is served" the monster bowed deeply despite the stiff starched suit she wore as she began serving the beverages to the three boss monsters who sat at a large, mostly empty table.

The smallest of the small furry monsters picked up her cup with both hands and began to blow on the surface, watching as steam spiraled in the breeze.

"Toriel!" a sharp, stern voice reprimanded "where are your manners?"

The amused expression on the youngest's face immediately dropped to a scowl; as she set down the teacup with a clunk a slosh of amber liquid spilled over the gold rimmed edge and onto the carved oak table.

"What did I just tell you?!" The queen slammed her palm on the table which sent the china clattering "I don't know what to do with you anymore, first the dresses and now this! You are royalty and your father and I expect you to act your part!"

The serving monster quickly grabbed a linen handkerchief and began mopping up the spill with urgency.

"I never asked to be royalty and you know it!" the child hissed as they stood up "and the dress ladder wasn't my fault! It was James's idea he wanted to-"

"That is enough young lady" The king's voice was deep and stern as he looked up from adding sugar cubes to his tea "You will not talk back to your mother, we only want the best for you."

"Of course" The queen settled back into her chair as the jewels hanging from her curved horns tinkled "we only have your best interest in mind, as well as the interest of the kingdom so I have sent James away to the borderlands. Now you won't get-"

"You WHAT?!" The youngest monster screamed as she pushed out of her chair so fast it smashed upon the ground "You sent him to the borderlands?! The frontline territories of the war?!" Her voice rose hysterically "WHY?!"

Trembling, she dashed toward the door stopping at the end of the long table only to rip the train off of it sending saucers and vases flying into the air as she ran out of the room. Ignoring the screams of fury and smashing china behind her she ran, the peach train clutched in her tight fist.

"James, James! Are you there?" She pounded at the wooden door and panted, trying to catch her breath. No answer. The normally lit windows were dark. No. No. NO! The door was unlocked, bursting through the door into the foyer sent a creak through the house. "James!" Downstairs, upstairs, bedrooms, nothing, nothing, nothing.

Anger coursed through her chest as she stared at the deserted room all around her, James didn't take anything with him, he knew he wouldn't need anything where he was going. Haze clouded her vision as heat waves rolled off of her; the tip of the train burst into flames.

If James was going down she would bring the whole town down with him. The flames clawed painfully at her chest it wouldn't be ignored until it got what it wanted so she gave in. Hate and anger fueled the heated bursts of fire as the train disintegrated in her hands and the rest of the house began to smoke. Faint screams echoed outside as she let the fire consume house after house; wood and plastic melted and dripped down from the ceiling in burning droplets, splattering upon the ground. Smoke filled the air and the room, she didn't move, wooden beams began to splinter and crack with loud pops above, she didn't move, a voice called out something, she still didn't move.

 _Hahaha, that's right, burn it all! They don't deserve to live, not after what they did!_

The railing crashed down beside her as she sat down; exhaustion rolled over her in waves, she had outdone it. She didn't have the strength to move, it was the price she had to pay, that was alright.

"Hey, come on!" an unfamiliar voice called out, they sounded close, looking up she watched a young monster push at the flames as they inched closer to her. His white fur, richly embroidered clothes, and already decent sized horns told her all she needed to know—he must be the prince Mother had arranged to court her. What great timing.

"What are you doing?" She rolled her eyes at his weak magic, he could barely bend back fire what a wimp.

"Isn't it obvious?" He hissed with concentration as he tried to repel the flames "trying to save you, now take my hand."

"Are you stupid?" She eyed him over incredulously "do you think I'm not competent enough to save myself from my own magic?"

"Well why else would you be sitting here in this burning house? Wait. Did you say this was your magic? Why and how did you set the town on fire?!" He lost concentration for a moment and the stupid cape he was wearing set on fire as he tumbled into the middle of the room where she was sitting. Taking the cape off he stomped on the flames until they extinguished then handed it to Toriel who promptly tossed it behind her into the fire. "W-Why would you do that?!"

"You looked stupid in it okay?! And the fire thing is a long story" She attempted to move her leg, no luck "look, I was kind of stupid and overspent myself alright?"

He held out his hand toward her "here, let me help you up"

She slapped his palm away "I don't want your pity you weakling, what are you class F at magic?"

"I-I'm bad at magic okay?" He looked embarrassed "look, I have legs, and you have pretty strong magic as I can see; if we work together we can get out of this burning house. I mean if you want to get out, if not I can sit here with you and watch it burn down, that's cool too I guess."

Sighing she glanced at him, he did look pretty bulky at least "fine, I'll try" she took his outstretched hand with a huff "but you have to give me a piggy-back, no stupid princess carry or whatever."

"Sure" He pulled her up off of the ash covered ground as another wood beam crashed down from the ceiling.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she tried to hold on as her tired fingers struggled to clench tufts of fur "Okay, grab my ankles and don't drop me. Try anything and I'll break your neck."

"Don't worry, strength is one thing I do have, also you're kind of choking me" he walked toward the wall of fire while keeping a firm grip on the lithe monster's legs "Are you sure you have enough juice in you to do this?"

"Let's see" She lifted one hand up to motion toward the flames, they parted after only a moment's hesitation "Yep, let's go."

As they walked through the burning house toward the front door, the sound of wood crashed down all around them. "How bad is the fire in town?"

He winced "pretty bad, what were you trying to do kill everyone?"

"No, I just kind of lost control." She sighed "Looks like you might have to walk me around town so I can stop the flames from spreading. Thanks for helping me out back there, what's your name?"

"Asgore" He replied as they stepped out of the building into the street "And you?"

"Toriel" she smiled slightly.

* * *

(notes)

I have been waiting months to write this scene, lol was it worth the wait?

This is sometime during the war

I like the (evil) idea of monster species that we never got to meet because they went extinct during the war (hence lizard butler)

*Definitions- entropy- disorder

**lithe- flexible, moving with grace

My tournament went well :) we got first in pf

Fav song right now- Monody by TheFatRat :D

Almost break! :D

~PhysikLily UwU


	25. Chapter 25: Train

**Chapter 25- Train**

 _(A/N: Blood warning? Let me just say it's going to be pretty violent for a while)  
_

Frisk woke up with a start, they weren't dead? _Chara! Where was Chara?_ Throwing off the covers they bolted for the door only stopping to check for the artifact—it was still there—before rushing outside. A couple of leaves rustled but not enough to suggest that someone was moving them; the air itself was clammy and still, much too still. There was no one here, no one, no one… they were all alone. They didn't want to be alone.

 _The star._ A voice whispered, it echoed through the empty air hauntingly; the sound of the words slipped like water out of their mind. _Go to the star._ It repeated.

 _Star, the warm glowing things Chara talked about? There should be one near Toriel's house._ As the air grew warmer Frisk flinched, _fire, smoke, hair smoldered,_ No! They shook off the uneasy, suffocating feeling and forced their feet to move. Closer. Closer. Just a little bit- Their toes sank into something sticky as they fell forward onto something. Warm liquid splattered onto their face as someone touched their cheek, they reached out this person had one eye wrapped in a bandage, who?

 _Why didn't you help me?_ A different voice called out, they shuddered, it sounded like Chara but more metallic.

 _No, I-I couldn't, I didn't know how! I-_

 _You left me to die!_ Chara observed with detached interest, warm liquid dripped from their eyes and mouth; the ground began swell and their shirt soaked into the rising tide of *viscous fluid.

 _I'm sorry I didn't k-know what was-_

The waves rose above eye level, they couldn't breathe their lungs strained-

"Frisk! Frisk! Hello? Wake up!" a hand slapped their cheek, it stung, they blinked and sat up slowly as their body groaned in protest. "Hey! Why didn't you respond?! I thought you were dead!" Chara cursed as they shook them by the shoulders making their head spin.

((I thought y-you were dead… are you mad? I-I'm sorry I couldn't beat her… I didn't-)) A hand grabbed hold of their pen causing them to pause.

"Don't ever apologize for something that isn't your fault." Their guide's voice was steely as they bent closer to them, "all that matters is we're both alive right now; this time we aren't going to lose, I'll train you until you can beat her whatever it takes."

Dropping the notebook and pen, they tackled Chara in a hug and as they did a cloth bandage brushed against their cheek. "Ahhgg! Get off of me you little turd!"

Frisk froze, they ran their fingers over Chara's face and just like in the hallucination their right eye was covered by a wrapping. "What are you doing?!" They flinched, slapping away Frisk's hand.

 _No. No. No. NO! This is not happening, what even, I… I can't!_ The smaller child curled into a ball as their breathing grew erratic.

"It's okay" Chara awkwardly patted their ward's shoulder "My eye has always been like this, you aren't imagining things, how about you go to sleep? I'll train you in the morning."

Frisk shuddered as they took a deep breath ((I-I'm sorry, I thought… Hey, Chara?))

"Hmm? What?" The taller child pulled the down quilt off of the bed to drape around their ward.

((Can you tell me a story?))

"I… don't think…" Chara glanced toward the heap of quilt from which a small, round face poked out expectantly "… Uh, okay, but just one."

~O*O~

"There once was a human named… The Eye, and that human lived above the ground in a village with other humans. The other humans in the village went to school with The Eye but they… weren't very nice." Chara's voice grew softer "They teased and bullied The Eye because The Eye had strange traits; The Eye had rusty red hair—which in itself was a rare occurrence—and also pale pink eyes. Not pink eye, where the sclera is a different color, but pink irises."

"Due to these strange characteristics The Eye's parents sent her to live with other people. Those people told The Eye to call them Aunt and Uncle but The Eye hoped that they weren't truly related because they were… mean most of the time."

"They sent The Eye to a lot of sports camps and karate classes because they wanted a boy but they had received a girl instead; The Eye actually didn't mind, the camps were way more interesting than the boring frilly things that the television advertised were for females." Chara chuckled a bit "The boys avoided The Eye as well because they couldn't beat the child at anything The Eye decided to become competitive at."

"But despite all of the whispers and chatter in the halls The Eye wasn't happy, no one really talked to The Eye except to challenge the child. Soon The Eye found themself sneaking out of the house late at night to play with the neighborhood street gangs, The Eye found them more enjoyable to be around since they seemed… real. They laughed when they felt like laughing and cursed when they were upset—not at all like the humans during the day who wore porcelain masks to hide what they actually wanted. And the gang kids—who wore tattered clothes and black eyes proudly—accepted The Eye and gave the human the only gift ever exchanged between their members and the most important, a name."

"The gang kids got into fights all of the time, some serious some not so serious, and The Eye soon realized that the skills gained from all of those forced classes would be invaluable and helped train the rest of the kids. Even quicker than the rest, The Eye rose through the ranks gaining a reputation for wielding a simple weapon, a small knife." Chara's voice caught before continuing "One day, a rival gang seeking The Eye (more commonly known as "The Demon") raided the streets… They were much too strong… that day the roads were slick with blood as they took The Eye away. The blood was not theirs's."

"The rival crime boss merely wanted… The Eyes mutant eyes" Chara's voice trembled "He had shed all that blood merely for a collector's item, The Eye decided if that was what he wanted that was what he wouldn't get, so wiggling a hand loose… The Eye swiftly grabbed a knife and plunged it into their pupil in a smooth motion."

"Screams pierced the night behind The Eye as they left the building, blood dripped down half of their face, but the pain bursting in the right side of their face almost felt good."

"The Eye couldn't go back to the gang since it had been… wiped out and Aunt and Uncle would freak out. So The Eye decided to go to… Mount Ebott" They glanced at Frisk who peered out at them from their blanket cocoon. _They don't know where they are after all._

"So that's how Eye reached the mountain… and no one ever saw them again."

"Was that a sufficient story?" Chara turned to poke the kid in the cheek. Their eyelashes fluttered gently… no way. Ha! Frisk was asleep! Grinning, Chara reached up to grab the pillow and propped it up behind them; they wondered how much Frisk had heard as they dozed off.

They would prepare Frisk better, they would survive this time.

* * *

(notes)

Hey, I think we're about done with the backstory for now, who's ready for round two? :D

The Eye, hmmmm, sure reminds me of someone eyyy? *winks rapidly*

*Definitions- viscous- having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid (yes, WTNV)

I'm traveling for Christmas break and I think it'll be fun, I finally get to bake again ^U^

It's finals week right? I've already had mine a bit early so good luck guys! ^w^ Just relax :) If you feel yourself panicking take five deep breaths to oxidize your system and chill. You can do it :D

BELIEVE :]

~PhysikLily UwU


	26. Chapter 26: Breakthrough

**Chapter 26: Breakthrough**

 _(A/N: Heartache? :0_

"Are you ready?"

They nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Frisk stepped forward into the larger chamber and they heard Chara's steady tapping behind them.

"You want to leave so badly?"

They felt their chest swell up as they took a deep breath.

"Then prove yourself!"

And the world seemed to melt away once again and they took a step back in trepidation.

"Okay, get ready Frisk… Now! Jump Left, right duck!"

A heat wave swept past their cheek as they dropped onto their knees and rolled toward the right wall.

"You know what to do" Chara hissed as they slowly inched along the left wall toward Toriel.

~O*O~

" _Left! Right! Jump!"_

 _Left. Right. Oofff_

 _They winced as the blunt tip of a plastic knife pommel slammed into their stomach_

" _Dead again" a frustrated voice hissed as it flew past them "How are we supposed to beat her if you can't fight?!"_

 _((I can dodge her attacks, but what about after that?))_

" _You can't even dodge my attacks! You know what, never mind, what do you want me to do?"_

 _((I'll get better! Just tell me what to do and stay out of her way okay? I don't want you to get hurt))_

"… _Running only gets you so far… I can take care of her for you if you want me to."_

 _((Hmm, what do you mean?))_

" _I- … Nevermind."_

 _((Oh! I know, I'll show her that I can survive her attacks by dodging until she is forced to admit that I'm strong! :] ))_

"… _Alright, I've got your back"_

 _Chara felt their fingers tighten on the grip of their knife, Frisk wasn't going to die again anytime soon._

~O*O~

Ducking, rolling, and jumping, Frisk dodged Toriel's attacks at their guide's commands until their legs shook with exhaustion.

"Right, down, and jump!"

 _Right, down, and-_ their body refused to move.

It took a moment for them to feel the searing sensation in their arm; the fibers on their sweater smoked sending the colors into rapid motion.

"Frisk!" A frenzied voice screamed across the room it was followed by a grunt of pain.

"Frisk, let me see your arm!" Chara ripped the rest of the sweater away from the scorched area and hissed at the sight "What did she do to you!?"

"Why are you doing this?" Toriel's voice rang out causing Frisk to spring away from Chara and run toward the far wall.

"Fight me or run away!"

They dodged more.

A passing flame caught the edge of their sweater sending burning pain up their side.

"What are you proving in this way!?"

Swaying, Frisk fell as heat rose all around them.

"Ah-"Toriel squeaked as she felt something grab her ankle

Chara watched the boss monster fall and they ran toward Frisk with relief.

"Come on, we have to go! There's only one way to end th-

They trailed off as flames flickered as rose all around them; balls of orange danced without pattern as they spun and dipped.

They flew toward the children and Chara raised their knife over their face protectively.

The flames hit the tiles with hissing as steam floated into the air; a cracking sound echoed through the air.

"Why don't you stay here?" Toriel stood in front of Frisk, her eyelids lowered.

"I know we don't have much, but we could be very happy together." Her voice softened.

"… It's alright my child, I understand now. You wish to be free… I wish I could but this is my duty."

She knelt and opened her arms in a hesitant motion and Frisk walked forward to take the offer. A cold metal vial pressed against their face and Toriel's dress, which smelled like gingerbread and smoke, rubbed painfully against the fresh burns causing Frisk to wince.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me heal you" Toriel held out her hands carefully and the healing warmness washed over them.

"I only have one request, when you leave, please do not come back." And with that the boss monster turned and walked away.

~O*O~

"Here, put this on" Chara commanded as they tossed Frisk the pile of 'winter' clothes.

Shoving the pile of extra notebooks into the backpack, they slipped on a pair of Azzie's shoes and followed their ward out the door. The shoes were too wide but they would have to do; ghosts probably didn't need shoes but it's not like they were prodigious* at ghosting.

Frisk held up a blunt ended rake as they walked into the living room. "The end's been filed down, I've already tried."

They held up another tool, a shovel. "Still super blunt."

((But why would that matter for a walking stick?))

"…Oh, I thought you- nevermind, it's fine."

The two children followed the scent of spices to the kitchen only to gasp at the sight, the whole counter was covered in baked sweets. Strangely, almost everything had a single slice taken out but the rest of the food was untouched.

((Anything besides pie?))

"Uhh, let's see…" Chara hummed as they looked over the treats "There are some gingerbread monsters?"

((I'll take two of those please))

"Sure, here let me grab a plate."

So they had a meal of pie and cookies as they packed sweets for the road.

((Why does she only bake pies and sweets? Not actual food?))

"I don't know, though her cooking has definitely improved; before, this one time she burned down the house and almost killed everyone while she was making a pie."

((That sounds really dangerous))

"It was, to be living in the same house as her." Chara grinned as they reminisced over the old days.

Frisk shouldered the backpack with an 'ooofff' and they headed down the stairs.

The shovel clinked against purple tiles as they walked.

Chara placed a hand on one door and Frisk the other "one, two, three, push!"

The heavy door inched open with a heavy creak, allowing just enough room for a child to squeeze through.

Taking a deep breath, they started forward.

* * *

(notes)

Whoooooooo, we're starting a new adventure! Just in time for the new year! :D

How was this ark? I felt like it got a little too angsty at times and kinda too fantasy but that's alright, I'll try to fix that next chapter :)

Aww man, now I actually have to work on my Sans design x-x

*Definition- Prodigious: remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree.

How was the holiday season guys?

Mine was cool, I got to visit family and eat homecooked food OwO

I also got my d&d dice so it's time to embrace my inner nerd, though I must warn you guys, January is my busiest time of year with AP test prep and tournaments almost every weekend XnX so I'll try my best to upload :)

I'm also having lotion problems (being allergic to something in lotion?) what lotion do you use?

As well as needing to fix my concentration levels, I get kind of distracted when I'm not interested in something and I need to make myself interested :D

Lotion, lotion, lotion!

~PhysikLily UwU


	27. Chapter 27: Old Friend

**Chapter 27- Old Friend**

She closed the door behind the child after they stepped through, not right after but slowly, the door was a tad hard to move—she had gotten soft.

Another one, yet another one she couldn't stop, yet another one she couldn't save; now there wouldn't be another one for this was the last one Asgore needed… unless he wimped out again.

Sighing, she slumped down against the cold door as a sadness loomed behind, its huge gloopy form began to swallow the curled up boss monster as it seeped forward.

Wait. There was one person. Yes, him.

The goop retracted a bit.

No, she was done sitting in this stone fortress, rotting away. Standing up she dusted off the bottom of her dress and began to make a list.

A cold metal vial bumped against her chest as she walked and reaching up she stilled it with one hand—enough had died, she had wanted Asriel to be the last but it was too late for feeling bad.

It was time to act.

And as she rushed up the stairs two at a time, the goop evaporated into the shadows.

~O*O~

"Clever, Verrry clever"

 _Who's ther-_

"You again!?" Chara cursed as they stepped forward

"You think you're really smart, don't you?"

"Hey! I'm the one who's talking to you, you little evil daisy!"

 _Who? What?... Flowey?!_

Frisk rushed forward to tackle-hug the disappearing monster only to get smashed away by a thick vine.

Pain shot through their stomach as they groaned and sat up.

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe I wasn't clear enough last time we met." Flowey cackled as he jabbed a vine through the air, "in this world, it's kill or be KILLED."

*Splorch* A sickly sound pierced the air followed closely by silent screams and heavy breathing.

Frisk collapsed onto the cold earth as spears of agony shot through their arm.

"Frisk! Frisk!"

~O*O~

"Good, you're awake" A cold hand patted their forehead

They sat up, their right arm throbbed.

Frisk frowned as the memories returned, slowly at first then quickly, why had Flowey done that?

"I told you he was a jerk" Chara stated matter of factly as they bustled around

The hurt child reached for their notebook only to stop short—they couldn't write, not with their arm.

"I got it" Chara sighed, "you can nod or shake your head while I guess what you want to ask."

Frisk gave their guide a slightly awkward thumbs-up and proceeded to make a walking motion with two fingers.

"You… want to go for a walk?"

They shook their head.

'You want to… get going?"

They nodded and Chara helped them up.

Shouldering the pack, Frisk pushed open the door with one shoulder and Chara's help.

A blast of frigid air hit their face as they inched through the doorway causing their face to scrunch up.

"Whew, it's cold" Chara hissed as they crunched through the snow "I thought I wouldn't need a coat but I was wrong."

A mechanical whirring buzzed through the air causing Chara to pull out their plastic knife and head toward the distance, the sound of metal crushing was followed by a satisfied hiss.

"Someone's spying on us" They hummed as they prodded their ward forward "Let's keep moving."

Their feet were numb, perhaps wearing shoes had been a good idea after all, they seemed to help a bit.

The packed snow crunched underfoot as they walked, only pausing to step over a misplaced branch.

"There's a bridge in front of us a couple of feet" Chara observed as they neared the strange structure, "it's really weird, it has these huge wooden beams that are really far apart towering over it, but the bridge itself doesn't have any rails-

A branch snapped behind them.

Chara whirled around, grabbing their knife.

There was no one there.

"There's someone behind us, keep walking, I'll deal with them." Chara hissed into Frisk's ear as they turned around.

Tensing up, they kept walking.

Chara tucked themself into the trees to keep a look out for intruders as Frisk reached the bridge safely.

Blinking, they almost missed a shadow as it slipped toward Frisk; the small figure reached forward causing Chara to narrow their eyes and shoot out of the brush.

"Hey Human," a deep voice for a small person, "don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Frisk slowly pivoted on one foot and held out their left hand apprehensively.

PFFFFBBTTTTT

"Heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick," the figure chuckled "It's ALWAYS funny."

Frisk frowned and flushed with embarrassment as Chara stepped behind the figure with a wary glance.

"Anyways, you're a human right? That's hilarious! I'm sans, sans the skeleton!" he chuckled and mimed wiping away a tear "I'm actually supposed to be on the lookout for humans right now, but ehh, I don't really care. My brother, Papyrus, on the other hand is a human hunting FANATIC. Oh, look, I think that's him over there, hang on, I have an idea."

Narrowing their eyes Chara followed Frisk and the strange skeleton over the bridge.

~O*O~

Here's a description of this au's Sans since I don't think I'm going to bring this up later:

-Relitevely short, a bit taller than Frisk, not as tall as Chara

-blue hoodie with a white hood and three white stripes across right arm which decrease in size

-grey sweatpants that end right above ankle

-Still the awesome pink fuzzy slippers

That's it for now, though I defo have more planned, I don't want to spoil it :3

I know it's simple, that's what I wanted, just a casual "lazy" skeleton :)

* * *

(notes)

We got to meet a new character! :D

Sigh, I know he's going to be so hard to write in character x-x

I should probably cut the snow arcs shorter so our Frisk doesn't get hypothermia eyyy?

My holidays were pretty fun, I got to watch Rogue One, visit family, and eat yummy food :D

The best part? I got a new laptop so I can use it to type chapters! ^w^ (my other one broke x-x)

Happy New Year guys ^U^ Let's hope this one doesn't suck as much c:

Snow shoveling is bad here~

~PhysikLily UwU


	28. Chapter 28: Lamp

**Chapter 28- Lamp**

 _(A/N: I figured that I would post this a day early just because :)_

"You can hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp over there."

"Pffft" Chara burst out laughing as they spotted the lamp "how, what?!"

Frisk turned to look at them questioningly, _what?_

"It's nothing, I got you," Chara smothered a laugh as they pushed them toward what they assumed to be the aforementioned fixture, the snow was cold as it brushed up against their bare toes turning them numb. They hoped that it wouldn't be cold for too long—how many hours did it take to get frostbite?

"sup, bro" San's voice was a bit deeper than what Chara expected, but it wasn't deeper than a teen. Hmmm

Frisk shivered as they tried to stand still, the cold ceramic of the lamp base pressed against their leg; they wondered if Sans would try to keep them here too. He seemed pretty relaxed but it was strange, they could hear a slightly strained undertone to his voice. They weren't sure if they were imagining it.

"You know what 'sup' brother!" Papyrus's voice was loud with enthusiasm as he strode into view forcing Chara to smother another fit of laughter. _What was he wearing!?_

"It's been eight days and you _still_ haven't recalibrated your puzzles! What have you been doing?!" Hmm, Frisk's teeth chattered and they rubbed their arms to warm up; this… Papyrus? His voice sounded with excitement and passion… to capture them? But he still sounded slightly friendly? They felt their muscles loosen.

"I've just been staring at this lamp, it's really cool!" They froze, "Want to take a look?"

Chara drew their knife and stepped out from behind the lamp, looks like they were right to be wary; they supposed the plastic knife wasn't the best weapon but-

"No! I don't have time for that! What if a human comes through here?! I want to be ready!" Papyrus stomped the ground with one boot, how childish…

"I will be the one! I MUST be the one! I will capture a human!" Chara rolled their eyes and dropped their arm to their side—this was going to take a while, they could sense it.

"Then, I, The Great Papyrus, will get all the things that I utterly deserve! Respect! Recognition! I will finally get to join the royal guard! People will finally ask to be my… 'friend?'" Frisk couldn't feel their right arm, it didn't hurt anymore at least; they hoped this Papyrus would finish his speech soon so they could move around and warm up, despite his ambition they couldn't help but like him.

"Uhh, maybe this lamp could help you?"

Chara narrowed their eyes.

"Sans! Stop messing around! All you do is sit around all day and boondoggle! Stop being such a lazybones!"

"Hey, i've done a **ton** of work today! A **skele-ton**!" Chara groaned and Frisk giggled.

"SANS!"

"oh come on, you're smiling." Frisk smiled

"I am and I hate it!" Papyrus moaned dramatically "Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get a little recognition?!"

"oh, it sounds like you're working yourself…"

"Don't-

"Down to the **bone** "

"UHGGG!"

Chara strode forward and kicked Sans in the shin

He didn't move

"I'll be attending to my puzzles, and as for your work… put a little more 'BACKBONE?' into it!" Just as Chara started moving toward the taller brother he spun out of range while laughing dramatically "NYEHEHEHEHEHE!"

…

"Okay, you can come out now"

Frisk stomped their feet quickly as they carefully made their way from behind the lamp, they could barely feel their limbs.

"What the heck was that?! You almost gave us away!"

No response, they focused harder and tried again.

And again nothing.

Hmmmff

Frisk turned toward their seething guide and back toward Sans when they heard curse words being mumbled under their breath.

Walking forward they waded through snow until they bumped into Sans, he turned around.

"You should get going, my brother might come back, and then you'll have to sit through more of my horrible jokes."

Frisk frowned, they were great! They tried raising their hand to give a thumbs up, their arm throbbed. Switching limbs, they lifted their fingers away from their lips in a 'thank-you' before turning around and following the sound of Chara's voice.

"What a jerk!" Chara hissed as they walked after Frisk "He almost got you- us killed! And those disgusting puns!"

Frisk's arm moved toward their backpack before they grimaced in pain and let their limb trail listlessly beside them.

"Hey! Actually…" Sans's voice called out from behind them again "Hate to bother you but I need a favor, you see… my brother's been feeling down lately. You see, he's never seen a human before and seeing you might just make his day. Don't worry though, he's not dangerous… even if he tries to be. Anyways, see you up ahead, thanks a million!"

"If he said that he would meet us up ahead, why did he just walk back from whence we came?" Chara frowned as they lost sight of the shorter monster "Anyways, you aren't going to meet with that crazed dude are you? You'll get killed and then we might have to redo that Toriel fight again."

 _Redo?_ Frisk tilted their head in confusion before nodding, Papyrus seemed fine and they were sure they could win him over—hopefully this time without a fight, their arm throbbed in agreement.

Chara sighed and looked up with a moan "Fine, it's not like I'm going to stop you but he _will_ try to capture you." They weren't sure what had happened since they were last down here but it was clear that the monsters wanted humans, perhaps for their souls… maybe to continue the work that they had started with Azzie.

Since they had come back, perhaps Azzie could too? No, they didn't want that, and plus, they didn't know where his dust was—though they did have an idea where some of it was.

They wondered if Toriel had decided to adopt a human tradition after their chat, it was so long ago but they didn't doubt she still remembered.

"Oh, look! One of those star things!" Chara let out a pent up breath and steered Frisk toward it.

Frisk smiled as they reached an arm into the warm heart of the star and felt the now familiar strange tingly sensation. Their fingers tingled, they could feel their right arm again! They held it up and Chara grinned.

"The convenience of that lamp still fills you with determination!"

 _File saved._

* * *

(notes)

Meeting the bros, I actually want to admit that I completely forgot that I would be writing about Papyrus today so I'll try to have a description of him next time :) The design of Toriel also didn't get mentioned for some reason? Someday when I'm feeling lazy I'll just make a chapter with only character descriptions!~

*Definition- aforementioned- mentioned before (this is less new words and more really old words,lol)

Let me just drop it here that this whole story is going to be platonic (except for maybe cannon pairs) and I really want it to stay that way, as you'll see later on many of the characters in this au are kids and I want it to be lighthearted with fluff and darker elements of struggle interlaced UuU

It is snowing so hard right now, there's probably more than three feet piled up on the sides of the roads :p

I did do a ref pic for sans actually, a simple one if you wanted to check it out at problempoint-undertale-au ( tumblr) ((FF doesn't let me put links sorry :0

Oh! More news, I got firealpaca on my computer and now I can draw on it, though I kinda actually prefer my phone since I use a stylus to draw and not a tablet x-x

I haven't updated about the sweater for a while since I realized that it was 3+ inches too big for me and I had to unravel the whole thing :( I'll start over eventually but I had to take a break for school and to work on a Christmas present so we'll see ^u^;

I actually am trying out mysme right now, I know that I'm late for the party but I wanted to wait until all of the hype died down :) It's kinda a blind playthrough the first time since I haven't had it spoiled yet. If you want to know my thoughts, I'm on day 3, and so far it's meh. The story is kinda interesting but it's actually kinda farfetched for reality, otherwise it's nice c:

The rest of this week is going to be so busy x-x

~PhysikLily UwU


	29. Chapter 29: Cracks

**Chapter 29: Cracks**

 _(A/N: Sorry for the short chapter it's partly for story partly because I need sleep. Scare warning?!)_

"Ahem" someone cleared their throat, that someone was getting closer—Frisk could hear the sound of packed snow underfoot.

Beside them they heard Chara shift quietly and they could tell their guide had noticed as well.

The fluttering of feathers filled the air and a cold gust of wind blew at their face as they turned toward the sound.

"There's some weird bird monster wearing a black bow tie in front of us" Chara groaned.

Tilting their head, Frisk smiled and waved a hand in greeting.

"M…m… macaroni and _freeze_!" The strange bird stammered… they sounded unsure.

Hehehe Frisk giggled silently, putting a now gloved hand over their mouth before fumbling for their notebook and pen.

((I'm glad I'm not _ice-_ olated in my love of puns ;)))

"Heh," that prompted a small chuckle "not bad for a human."

"I'll grace you with one more then," the monster paused for effect "what's my favorite type of cereal? Frosted."

The bird waited expectantly and so Frisk clapped happily; the sound was muffled by the gardening gloves that they had pulled out of the backpack Chara packed but audible all the same.

During the exchange Chara had walked ahead and Frisk heard an exasperated shriek followed by the sound of smashing and wood cracking.

"What was that?!" The monster whipped around "What the? Did you just? But. How? I-I have to go… umm, You have been graced by the epic comedian Snowdrake!"

And with another burst of cold air, the sound of feathers vanished into the air.

With a last baleful hug of the glowing star, Frisk pocketed the notebook and started toward their guide.

"Puns, everywhere, stupid, puns, STUPID! Wh-

They placed their hand on Chara's shoulder. The cold seemed to seep into their bones. Withdrawing their hand they lunged forward wrapping the colder child in a deep embrace.

Panting to catch their breath, Chara scrunched their eyes closed concentrating to stay solid.

The chill seeped through their clothes and into their core. Wind tugged at their hair and pushed wisps of snow over the splintered boards already half buried in the drift.

Their throbbing knuckles numbed from the cold until they couldn't even feel their limbs.

Knees weak they collapsed into kneeling position and something inside of them cracked.

Frisk's eyes widened and throwing off their backpack, they bent down and hugged tighter.

~O*O~

Snowdrake let a small smile touch his lips as he flew against the wind. Little bits of snow felt like hail as they stung his face but it wasn't bad weather at all.

He had made someone laugh, Father was wrong afterall!

He sighed, so _he_ was right.

Ha, ha, ha,ha,ha What a joke, he was such a ha, ha,ha,ha

~O*O~

Y0u h4v3 t0 k33p g01ng. why? Wh4t 4r3 y0u d01ng? Ch1ld, pl34s3. W3 m4y n0t h4v3 much l0ng3r. 1'm n0t 5ur3 h0w much l0ng3r 1 c4n h0ld 0n. L3t g0 0f th3 gh05t5.

1'm 5t4rt1ng t0 l0053 my53lf, 1 c4n f33l 1t.

Tru5t m3. Y0u h4v3 t0. W3 d0n't h4v3 much t1m3.

Ch1ld. 4r3 y0u l15t3n1ng? 1-1 d0n't th1nk 1 h4v3 3n0ugh… l3ft t0….bzzzzzzzzztttttt

~O*O~

(N0t35)

1'm n0t 5ur3 wh4t'5 g01ng 0n but 1 c4n't s33m t0-

bzzzzzzzztttttttt

~Phy51kL1ly OUO


	30. Chapter 30: Skeleton Watch

_**Chapter 30: Skeleton Watch**_

 _(A/N: I'm so sorry for the odd chapters but writing normal gets boring sometimes :p_

 _~O*O~_

" _You sure this is what you want?"_

" _Yeah! I want to look awesome and super strong! That way Undyne will have to let me join the royal guard!"_

" _Hehe, alright bro"_

 _Dark grey pants which could be tucked into bright red boots each with two black stripes were paired with matching gloves and of course the scarf. But what he was actually proud of was the armor-like padded top, the darker grey notched stripe complimented the pants without looking out of place on the lighter fabric._

 _It had only taken a day to actually make, a week for gathering material, and of course over a month for designing but overall, he was quite pleased._

 _~O*O~_

" _Brother! What are you making?!"_

" _uhh" A small wisp of cerulean smoke vanished into the air "Just a quiche, you want some?"_

" _What's in it?"_

" _Spinach and egg"_

" _Blehh, why spinach? And what are Ehh-Gu-s?_

 _The smaller figure's eyebrows curved slightly downwards as a couple of scenarios played quickly through his head._

" _That's okay, umm, I'm… heading off to… meet someone!"_

 _The smaller monster hurriedly wrapped up the burning, straight out of the oven quiche in a checkered cloth before propping open the door with a foot._

" _Wowie! Brother! You're finally going somewhere! Have fun!"_

" _hehe, yeah. If you're hungry there are some hot dogs in the fridge"_

 _As soon as the door closed the smaller figure carrying the piping hot and delicious smelling quiche seemed to blink out of view._

 _In a small room which could only be accessed through a cascading curtain of water a small pop could be heard as a figure tumbled into a hard wall with a thud._

" _Almost" he hissed in pain as he pushed an arm back into place, the other still gripped the quiche tightly._

 _Unwrapping the baked good the smaller figure sighed with disappointment; a small chunk had been cut out where he had tasted it._

 _It had tasted good until Paps hadn't liked it._

… _Well to be fair he hadn't even tried it but how was he supposed to explain that eating an egg was like eating a baby animal?_

 _He doubted Paps would listen, even if he explained how the eggs monsters ate weren't fertilized… then he would have to explain what that meant and no. just no._

 _Sighing, he carefully placed the quiche under the bench of the small room._

 _He doubted that he would visit again, he wouldn't make the same mistake another time._

 _~O*O~_

 _A tall figure's fingers flew over keys and papers as he watched a small display carefully._

 _A shorter monster sifted through a thick pile of notes as he glanced up at the taller every now and then._

" _Hey you two, go check on the new ones"_

" _Yes sir" (x2)_

 _The soft taps of footsteps faded quickly as two monsters glanced at each other then back at the door in front of which they stood. One of them took a key ring out of his pocket and sorted quickly through the keys. Metal only jangled for a brief second before being shoved back into the pocket of a white coat._

 _The two glanced at each other again before nodding quickly and descending a spiraling stone staircase—though not before one lit an enclosed light, a small glowing ball which bobbed cheerfully within its glass confines._

 _One of the two held the light aloft with their tail while the other pulled a lever causing the groans of machinery to echo through the room as bright electronic lighting, akin to that in an abandoned hospital, flickered on._

 _The room was lined with large steel cylinders, in front of each one was a small screen which flashed with digits upon being turned on._

 _The monster holding the lamp set it down and it automatically went out._

 _Together the two set about gazing intensely at the small screens, frowning upon discovering one on which flashed a small red triangle slowly._

 _Looking at each other, the two nodded and one hit a small button with their tail causing the respective metal cylinder to sink into the ground with a hiss._

 _The monsters blinked at one another and one picked up the light once more while the other pulled the lever and the lights flickered off one by one._

 _Together the two climbed back up the stairs, locked the door, and placed the light back into its alcove before starting back toward the taller monster as their red scarves fluttered behind them._

 _~O*O~_

 _The freezing spray of water cascaded over him, a metal sheet smashing down upon his head with vengeance, but he didn't move._

 _The force of the waterfall pushed his head down into the built-up puddle of ever-falling droplets and the current tugged fiercely upon his limbs but he didn't move._

 _Other than cold, he felt nothing. Numb. Always numb except for when he wasn't—and that was worse._

 _It had washed off a long time ago, he had watched the scarlet cloud wisp downstream, but the traces of red still lingered on the edge of his vision no matter how hard he scrubbed._

 _A small pink flash caught his eye and he couldn't help but look right as a strange tattered scrap rushed past. Something larger yet the same color fluttered like a drowning moth down the river before catching on a set of boulders near the bank. And push as it might, the river couldn't tear the object away from its brief reprise._

 _Sighing, he sunk into the cold ground not able to resist the curiosity of an unknown object._

 _He shook off cold water droplets as he surfaced near the bank right beside the flapping object. Scooping the heavy object, sodden with water, up took more strength than he could spare so it was slow progress but not an unfinished one._

 _Unfolding the ripped, soggy object revealed a shape not unlike a skirt. Hmm… why did it look so…_

 _He froze. Her._

 _Looking around he took a deep breath; the human wouldn't be here for a while but he needed somewhere…_

 _There was… but he didn't want this cursed thing-_

 _A soft humming began to echo through the chamber softly getting louder as it drew closer._

 _No choice._

 _Wrapping a vine around the sodden skirt with a wince, he sank into the moist ground._

 _The small room echoed with the fierce yet soothing sound of water which crashed over the entrance, it always sounded like that._

 _Flinging the object into the wall sent cold droplets spraying onto his face._

 _With a shudder he took one last look at the small room that he supposed no one else knew of and slumped down into the ground._

* * *

(notes)

Lol, sorry guys but I just realized I wanted more story in this then just below the surface so sorry if I spooked you last chapter :p

This one was kind of a collection of short stories which at this point are all cannon to this au.

I don't normally feel the itch to change things but after reading Ch- the story Chara told Frisk I kind of want to rewrite that :0 so I'll make sure to inform you guys if I change that (and if I rewrite it, trust me it's going to be really different)

Here's a tip to the mystery: I can't insert different fonts so I got creative

Also, I know some people don't think Sans baked the quiche but why can't he make both? Anyways, it's cannon here lol :)

Okay, I'm going to get kinda serious so if you read this for a good time then you can stop reading :D

So I know some of you have heard of what happened to FlowerFell (in which the creator & contributers finally cracked about people stealing their art and writings without credit and a lot more stuff that's simply not okay to the point of which the creator closed their tumblr account) Personally I feel really bad whenever this happens because I kind of live in a small fandom cocoon in which I just do what I want and don't really pay much attention to other things. I thought of making a tribute but I'm just too busy so I just want you listeners to know. If I'm ever to the point in which I can't take the fandom anymore I'll just write/ draw for myself. So don't let anyone cause you to stop doing what you love. Do what you do for you because you come before anyone else.

Stay Determined

~PhysikLily UwU


	31. Chapter 31: Blackout

**Chapter 31: Blackout**

Frisk took Chara's cold hand in their gloved one and the two started north. Despite the brief reprise of warmness emitting from the star-like object the wind began to claw once again at their ears and feet and face. The sound of rushing water was strange especially in such a snowy place, why hadn't the frosty crystals grown over the liquid's surface like dancing waterstriders? Perhaps the river simply ran too fast, always one step ahead of the ever following ice.

"There's a fishing rod," Chara coughed as they watched the river with detached interest, "want it?"

Frisk shook their head and turned to head back down the path from whence they came. Chara paused, reeled in the line, read the note, and kicked the whole contraption into the rushing current with disgust before following.

"So, as I was saying about…" A slightly nasally and familiar voice rang out as they walked toward a path pointed out by Chara "Undyne…"

"Wh-

Frisk stopped walking and a grin widened on their face as they recognized Papyrus's voice; Sans wanted to cheer him up so they supposed they could help.

Chara groaned at the sight of the two fleshless monsters and stalked off toward a large tree near the side of the road.

"Sans!" A loud whisper "Is that a _human?!_

"actually… I think that's a rock."

"ohhh…" a sadder skeleton sighed

"hey! What's that in front of the rock?"

"Oh!" "Sans, is that a _human?!_ " he whispered.

"yeah"

"Oh my! Undyne will be so! I'll be so Popular! Popular! Popular!" He sounded as if he was about to explode with joy.

Chara punched the snow-covered branches of the evergreen causing a cascade of cold to cover them in an icy embrace—they cursed and dusted off the dreadful fluff.

"Human! You shall not pass! I, The Great Papyrus will stop you then I will capture you and deliver you to the capital!" Papyrus called out turning his attention toward this rare but important human creature. Frisk tensed as a brave feeling emitted from him causing a strange color to overpower the others and cloud their vision.

"Then! Then- Actually, I'm not sure what's next…" He seemed to pause and Frisk tilted their head in Sans's direction though he didn't provide any help. In fact he seemed guilty for a brief flicker, so quickly did the feeling leave that Frisk thought they had imagined it. The smaller one… he was rather hard to read. "In any case, continue at your own peril!"

And with that the taller skeleton dashed off laughing his strange laugh as a snow covered Chara stomped back onto the well beaten path cursing under their breath.

"well that went well." Sans laughed briefly before turning toward Frisk "don't worry kid, I'll keep and _eyesocket_ out for you."

And with that he seemed to vanish or rather fade away just in time to dodge a packed snowball which smashed with a crunch upon the ground of which he was just standing a second ago.

~O*O~

"Absolutely no… moving? What?" Chara raised an eyebrow as they read the sign, they looked around carefully scanning the area and nothing seemed to move anyways. Even the small guard shack like the one that short skeleton had was still.

They walked past it without thought.

A rustling sound came from their left as they walked past the spooky guard shack, why were they so empty?

"Did something move?" a medium toned voice growled "I can only see moving things."

Taking Chara's hand, Frisk stood still and listened intently while a fit shape lumbered about inside of the booth.

The taller child's eyes widened as they watched a wiry wolf-like figure rise out of the booth—waiting until the monster was turning the other way, Chara tightened their grasp on Frisk's hand and sprinted away from the muscular canine.

"Something did move, and that something looks a lot like a human." The gruff voice rumbled louder "and if that moving thing was a human, I would make sure they never move again."

Someone or something burst of the booth and began running as well, the scent of burning cedar wafted through the air.

The snow to their left erupted into a shower of flakes causing Chara to swerve right in order to avoid the mini explosion as they pulled Frisk after them.

"Don't move!" The guard panted as he ran after the two children

"Yeah right! Like I'm going to let you kill us!" Chara called back other their shoulder as they gulped in frigid air—their lungs stung.

Another something smashed into the snow just before them causing a brief moment of hesitation before Chara pulled them over the snow and as soon as the hit the ground they kept running.

Frisk panted heavily as they attempted to keep up with their guide; their legs and lungs burned from running in the cold air and their wrist ached from Chara's tight grip.

Chara looked forward for a moment and was slightly startled at the sight of a familiar jokester leaning against a crate in a lazy position a hundred yards ahead.

What was he doing here? Was the other one here as well? Was this a… trap?

Chara narrowed their eyes in concentration as they dragged Frisk forward; their ward had tripped a few times in the rough escape though they hadn't fallen yet.

The guard behind them was still on their tail, Chara could hear seasoned breathing and the smell of smoked wood followed them in a strange way as if the scent was reaching forward to snag them with a single claw.

They had to keep running, was there a path-

Looking down they hissed in pain as a glowing sword sliced through their chest. They weren't sure if what happened last time was a freak accident but they didn't want to risk it.

As the claws of agony raked across their back, Chara flung Frisk forward using the remaining of their strength before collapsing onto the packed snow.

The last thing they saw before the world faded was Frisk smashing into the shorter skeleton sending the two flying out of their line of vision followed by a sickening _crack._

* * *

(notes)

Oh, don't worry, killing Frisk right now would mean writing this whole chapter again and I don't want to do that anytime soon. ;)

Don't get mad at Doggo guys, it was just time for some variety don't you think? :)

I'm far too tired to write more, perhaps next week. *yawn*

So sleepy, though I did rewatch some adventure time which was fun

~PhysikLily UwU


	32. Chapter 32: Vigil

**Chapter 32: Vigil**

 _(A/N: I'm not sure exactly when it'll happen since I have to build up story first, but this au is going to have quite a bit of deviation from the original, just wait readers, I'm already scheming;)_

Sometimes things happen which feel as if they are meant to harm, even if those same things cause sacrifice to aid someone else; since the skies can't give warning of coming storms too far in advance and no matter how hard the wind tries to warn, it cannot, it only seems likely that some do not understand these signs. These actions that nature takes, these actions that unexplainable forces watch only with disinterest are important even if at the time they do not seem so.

Spidery veins spread like crawling fingers, like veined script, the cold frost exhaled and fuzzy particles extended and crawled across coldness.

 _Get up. Get up. Get up._

The wind seemed to howl and sing in an eerily chilling tone.

But everything was still, and not a soul moved but the fluttering of small white particles in the sky as they danced and descended in untraceable paths toward the earth below.

A translucent apparition faded to transparent and faint shape scattered into amorphous blobs before disappearing entirely into the backdrop of shadowed white.

A shadow which had been moving just a few moments ago stood stock still, head tilted in confusion or perhaps overlooking what he should have been seeing. The shadow sat down after a couple moments which felt like eternity to him but perhaps mere second in the disinterested eyes of time and the snow slowly began to land on him as well forming a thick blanket to shelter him from the wind.

 _Wake up. Wake up._

The snowflakes sung in haunting siren voices that sliced through the veil of icy air, as they dipped and bobbed in windy currents before gently alighting on the earth, forming a careful hollow around the sitting figure and another shape collapsed in the snow.

Neither moved. The shadow shifted a few times, even going so far as to stand up and retrieve a lighter one time—the other shape didn't even twitch.

Frost creeped and ran over frigid surfaces only slowing as it skimmed over cracks and veins, only stopping when it could go no farther without melting.

The figure tapped its smoking biscuit on the ground feeling the object hit packed snow but the dark ashes only stained the fresh powdery coat above. Sweet smoke spiraled up in a twisting strand only to be instantaneously scattered by the blustery air.

 _We're running out of time._

 _Out of time._

 _Out of time._

 _Out of time._

Even the shadows twisted forward in writhing masses to whisper, first softly, then louder, and louder; voices echoed from all around as messages were carried by the wind, sent by the sky, and amplified by dancing flurries. They all screamed one thing and it rebounded off trees and snow and earth before hurtling toward the lone figure.

But he could not hear the message, could not interpret the messengers' voices, could not see much past the swirling snow.

*CHhhh, Crshh*

Silvery cracks sprouted and ran in all directions before being stopped by snowflakes which filled the spaces which they left.

~O*O~

"Doggo!" A voice called out as it got closer and closer

"You missed dinner!" A second, amused voice lilted "I know your hearing is going but is it really completely gone?"

The shadowy figure turned toward the moving figures and made an exasperated face "Something moved and I know it did but it's gone now and I know it stopped moving somewhere around here… I can only see moving things you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, Doggo" the first, slightly deeper voice waved a paw in the air "No need to get all defensive, we know."

The second performed a quick sweeping gaze of the area as she looked around, snow covered Doggo sitting on the ground surrounded by a semi-circle of ashes, indents where trodden upon snow was covered by a fresh coat, two unmoving forms piled on top of each other and half covered in a thin blanket of snow… wait. What?

"Honey!" She tugged on the first's sleeve with excitement, it wasn't everyday they found something new out here during their guard runs "Look at that! Someone's there!"

"Oh my! Dogaressa, whoever could this be?" He walked toward the pile and Doggo brushed off accumulated snow as he followed.

A sharp bark behind him caused Doggo to look back and give the burly guy a pat before following the two lovebirds.

Bending down, Dogaressa brushed some snow off of the figures and gasped as she pulled Dogamy's face closer by wrapping an arm around his neck in a headlock and yanking his face down toward the frozen figures.

"Oww" He groaned before poking the figure and shrieking in a surprisingly high pitched voice "It's Sans and… is that… a HUMAN!?"

She blinked twice for yes and they sniffed the strange creature, the snow and cold and seeped into them but this "human" did smell very weird.

"What should we do?" Dogaressa hissed as she pulled him aside for a brief mini conference "I heard humans can't survive in the cold"

"I heard they exploded upon contact with peanut butter" Dogamy whispered back with conviction "too bad we don't have any peanut butter on us."

"Should we just leave it out here? Humans are bad right? We'd be doing a good deed" She glanced back at the unmoving pile.

"But Sans is here too and honestly he's not looking so hot…" He hissed "honestly, I don't think he's been sleeping ever since he came back from the woods last week."

"We could try to just fish him out from under the human."

"But what if it wakes up?"

"We'll be ready to take it down."

"But remember how excited Papyrus was about getting to use his traps?"

Doggo narrowed his eyes as the two dithered, then he blinked really fast; was the human dying? Oh, man he had really messed up this time.

"One tail thump if Sans and a human are over there" He whispered to the greater dog.

Greater dog thumped his tail upon the ground and the sound was muffled by freshly fallen snow, which was promptly sent flying through the air.

"Can you pick them up and bring them back to town? I don't know what those fools are doing but it's taking too long." Doggo breathed a sigh of relief at the big guy's yip of approval then yelped as Greater dog scooped him up under one arm before bounding toward the unmoving pile.

"What are you?!" Dogamy whipped around in confusion as snow crunched underfoot and Dogaressa barked in disapproval.

"We can figure this out later!" Doggo called out from under the arm of the huge guard "let's get food first, I'm hungry."

"Fine" She huffed as the two shouldered their scythes and sprinted after the bounding dog past a whole bunch of strange contraptions and toward a small town.

And as they ran, the wind seemed to howl in their direction, pushing them faster.

* * *

(notes)

Oh man, I know I went a bit crazy with the descriptions in the first half of the chapter but it was fun c:

Do, do, do, do, now I know how authors feel like. You have the power to kill anyone! ^u^

Jk, jk, actually my power is quite limited in this case due to resets, but hey, just more chances to toy with emotions ;)

Sweater update: another problem I had was that my sweater was too thick for practical wear but I found a way to fix that! Since a skein of the yarn I'm using is made up of 4 strands, I just separated those and did a trial knit square and now I get fabric the thickness of a light cardigan! ^u^ AND I get 4x as much yarn, abeit it'll knit up slower but ehhh :D

For some reason I've been getting back into project runway? (that show where peeps design clothes)

Snow is starting to melt over here and walking anywhere is so annoying, my shoes always get soaked and everyone know how bad having wet socks is :p

If you guys are on tumblr, you should totally check out wilyart's undertale comic of insomnia, it's soooooo good (surface skele bro fluff, mystery, science and shenanigans)

I tried hosting a fake radio broadcast, it was fun c:

~PhysikLily UwU


	33. Chapter 33: Ignite

**Chapter 33: Ignite**

 _(A/N: sometimes I wonder if this story would look better as a comic before realizing there's no way I have time for that, maybe after I finish writing this whole thing, lol :)_

Their toes and fingers hurt. Groaning, Frisk attempted to push themself into a sitting position only to hiss in pain and collapse back into the bedsheets.

 _Don't try._ A crackling sound seemed to whisper around them.

They puffed up one cheek in frustration and winced as an ear bumped against the pillow sending painful tingling across one side of their head.

A small sigh of steam interrupted the constant presence of hissing and popping. _You don't listen very well do you? You still have your ears, perhaps stop and take some time to use them?_

They tried to lift their hand in a thumbs-up but as soon as their fingertips touched, bolts of pain shot down their arm causing them to drop it back onto the sheets.

 _Again. Don't move._ The sounds of steam gently puffed up and it got louder as the owner of the voice moved himself closer—it got a bit warmer as well.

 _The guards found both of you unconscious in the snow, who knows how long you were out there. You have a remarkably bad case of frostnip it's lucky they found you before it worsened_.

Frisk touched their nose with a throbbing finger which only resulted in additional pain but at least it was still there and hadn't been amputated or something.

The crackling sound moved closer to adjust blankets on another bed beside them sending a soft wave of heat toward them.

It was kinda nice…

…

Frisk's eyes stretched open as they froze.

The ground wavered and rippled as heat surged up all around them.

"Mom! We have to go!"

"But the fire's our friend, honey."

 _Our friend_

 _Our friend_

 _Our friend_

The flames crackled louder.

Dark smoke billowed up in columns and condensed into long tendrils; as long, boney fingers sprouted out of them, the smoke shot toward them, wrapping around their ankles and pulling them down, down, down.

"Why do you want to leave so badly? We can be happy here my child. Just stay with me."

 _Stay with me_

 _Stay with me_

 _Stay with me_

The fire whispered, and the hissing bounced off of walls before coming back even louder than before.

The acrid smoke wrapped around their head, dragging them deeper and deeper.

As the colors which spun around them froze and slowly began to crystallize, the room screamed with snapping and popping and hissing.

All of a sudden, the smoke tossed them into a cavernous room which glowed with amber light.

Stained glass colors spread like rainbow blood from where they landed and crawled up the walls; it was beautiful until they realized the walls were slowly beginning to waver and melt. Flames roared in wild glory all around and casting dynamic* lighting across the floor and glossy, clear droplets began to fall from above.

 _Stop! Stop!_

They collapsed onto their knees, head in their hands.

They screamed… but no sound came out.

The fire followed them, everywhere, it followed them.

The flames froze and they heard the thump of footsteps as someone ran down the hall, out of the room.

Was the fire gone? Perhaps…

The flames in the glass room flashed blue before the walls froze—then shattered.

All around them, the colors fractured and exploded, they looked up and started at the shine from above as soft light reflected off of the falling tinted glass.

As the walls splintered, falling back to reveal darkness, the floor began to fracture as well. They backed away from the edge of the floor which was quickly nearing as large fragments of floor fell straight down, revealing a void below them.

"Frisk!"

A hand touched their shoulder from above.

"Come on! Let's go!"

They hesitated. The floor beneath them cracked.

"Frisk. Come back."

Turning around they grasped Chara's hand as the last of the floor plunged into the abyss below.

~O*O~

"What were you doing out there?! You could have gotten hypothermia!"

Frisk closed their eyes and simply smiled as the colors returned to their normal behaviors of simple flowing.

"Are you even listening to me? That weird dude just ran out of here like something was on fire, I mean, he was on fire but that's…

Frisk slowly drifted off until their friend's voice was merely a soft lull.

Chara stood up and pulled the mussed up blankets back in order to tuck Frisk in before glancing with worry at their ward's ears and nose and fingers; the smaller child's extremities were painfully red and flaking with dry skin. Frostnip. Where had they been?

They glanced to the bed beside them only to grimace, whatever they had done in that brief moment of panic had probably knocked both of the patients out and the skeleton didn't look to good.

Heavy bags accented his small, pale face with scrunched up brows. The large shirt he was now wearing made him seem smaller then ever… and more pitiful.

Reaching forward to fix a messed up blanket corner, Chara paused when their hand phased through the cloth. Holding their fingers up they concentrated. Solid. Solid. Solid.

Their fingers paled further.

And further.

And further.

They felt themself fading.

This was bad. This was really bad.

Then, where before there was something—there was nothing.

~O*O~

Frisk blinked, sat up without thinking, and was pleasantly surprised that their fingers only hurt a little bit.

"Human! You're up!" A familiar but surprised voice exclaimed "They said you would be out for at least another couple of days! You really worried them!"

They smiled and shifted the covers so they could get out of bed only to wince as soon as their toes touched the ground.

"Are you okay, human?" Papyrus drew closer and Frisk frowned before making a writing motion above an outstretched palm.

"Something to write with?! I'll go find something!"

As loud footsteps echoed down the hall, they flopped backward onto the wrinkled sheets with a groan.

"I got some paper!" And indeed, a thin stack of computer paper was shoved into their hand along with a couple of crayons.

((Is anyone else hurt?))

"Nope! Grillby said both of you were fine except for getting a little chilly! Though Sans hasn't woken up yet… he's probably just tired!"

He didn't quite believe what he was saying. They stayed silent.

Suddenly a loud grumble caused them both to pause.

"Human…" Papyrus turned to look at them, they could feel his gaze "Are you… hungry?!"

They nodded slightly before shrieking silently as they were lifted suddenly out of bed not unlike how one would lift a dog.

 _What?! Where are we…?_

Papyrus walked with deliberate caution as they ascended a small flight of stairs and entered into a warm, delicious smelling room.

He plopped them down on a slightly sticky barstool before moving a second to sit down himself.

"What do you want to eat, Human?" Papyrus's voice lifted in consideration "Grillby, do you think the Human can eat greasy food?"

A loud pop of flames startled Frisk causing them to jump backward, pushing away from the bar counter, they fell toward the floor as it rushed up to meet them.

"Ooohhfff, The Great Papyrus to the rescue!" The taller skeletal monster grabbed them out of the air with one hand and steadied the stool with another.

They trembled and clutched onto his long scarf with shaking fingers. _Fire. There was fire here. Why was there fire here?! Perhaps it was following them… No. The flames licked at their skin-_

"Hey, Human! What's wrong?" Papyrus patted them awkwardly on the back, his voice edged with confusion.

 _Fire._ They mouthed and tilted their head toward the faint sounds of crackling which seemed to have grown softer or perhaps further away.

"Oh Grillby? He's not going to hurt you, he wouldn't hurt a fly!" He chuckled before unwrapping the scarf around his neck and draping it over the huddled child like a cloak.

…

Trembling they stretched out a hand, their fingers shook.

…

A warm feeling washed over them as a surprisingly hearth-like warmth touched their outstretched hand.

 _The sweet steam wafted out of the freshly made and still too hot to drink mug of hot chocolate._

" _Have a good day, honey" accompanied by a warm embrace before they turned to open the door._

" _This one's for you!" and a box was passed to them as they sat on a rug before an open hearth._

 _The melting sweetness of a fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookie as it fell apart in their mouth._

" _There are so many things I want to teach you!" A soft voice smiled as they sat near a warm fire._

" _Look! One of those star things!" they smiled as they reached forward, letting the warmth flow through their limbs._

They stopped shaking and as Grillby set a plate down upon the counter with a small clink, he leaned forward just enough to give them a small forehead tap with his before heading down the stairs with a soft crackling.

They touched the warm spot on their forehead before reaching for a fry which they had calmed down enough to order.

It was crunchy and greasy and warm, leaving them with the slight comforting tingle which Toriel's pie had as well. They reached for more.

~O*O~

"To the left, right, okay there!" Papyrus grinned as the human carefully set down a plate on a nightstand next to a bed on which, a small pale face poked out from under a huge mound of different colored blankets.

After depositing the Human back onto their bed, he glanced at the blanket mound for a bit before whispering "goodnight brother" and slipping out of the room.

As the door clicked shut, a pair of eyes slowly opened.

A small child smiled softly and drifted off to sleep as they clutched the middle of a long red scarf which trailed onto the floor.

And as they did, the darkness lit up with a sudden, ghostly glow.

* * *

(notes)

Oh man, this has got to be one of my favorite chapters to write so far :)

Angsty flashbacks+ (hopefully) awesome imagery + fluff+ food descriptions to make you hungry; what a dream OUO

*Definition- Dynamic- always changing (idk man, I just always used this word without realizing what it actually meant)

A friend forced me to watch a horror movie (Sinister) with her and I can't take scary stuff so… that was great…

I've figured out the sizing and thickness problem so I'm going to be restarting my Frisk sweater project :D (lol, I know, it'll be summer before I finish and then I won't be able to wear it :p

Oh hey, just remember. Everything so far is **platonic** , and it'll never be more than that with the kids. They are CHILDREN. So yeah :)

I know, long chapter this week right? I got inspired and didn't push it off until the last moment so I had time :D

I'm thinking about growing an herb garden when spring comes since we have room for pots or even a small herb bed ^O^ We already had spearmint where we moved and I want to try planting some other things like lavender and cilantro and chives. The only problem are the bees, because in the summer, they are everywhere and I'm scared of bees/wasps so I don't know if I'll be able to get close enough to water my plants, lol :o

I could make tea out of the mint! :0

~PhysikLily UwU


	34. Chapter 34: Don't Worry

**Chapter 34: Don't Worry**

 _(A/N: Pssshhh, an update schedule? What's that? :)_

 _Pain. Lots of pain. This wasn't good. Not at all._ He forced open his eyes and tried to stay still while he took in the sights that met his retinas. Pine walls met his gaze to both sides and pieces of faded red cloth hung from the rafters. Turning his head was one of the worst decisions of his life—but also one of the best, as the pain was worth catching sight of _the kid_.

It was the swiveling motions of writing that drew his attention to the human who sat in the bed about five feet away. The kid's messy hair was even more mussed up and they looked even smaller in their oversized sweater not to mention the fact that their ears and nose had become an unnatural shade of pinkish red—but despite everything, they looked quite happy as they doodled away.

Slowly turning back around, he stared at a framed picture on the wall—it was soot art, unmistakably Grillb's work, of a dark figure lifted solely by a pair of black smoke wings—and tried to think. _What happened?_

He had been waiting for the kid… because he had realized that Paps was serious… waiting to do what?

 _Waiting to warn them._

…

 _Or perhaps, waiting to-_

 _No._

Then the kid had come running… looking as if they were being chased…looking as if they were being dragged… by who?

As they got nearer he could see Doggo rushing after them, they were moving targets but they may as well have been fish in a barrel, a warning too late-

 _Or did you-_

 _Shut up._

And before he knew it the scene replayed before his eyes, a brief moment, a fleeting glimpse of the world as the kid flew toward him in a blur of magenta and brown; then the moment was gone and before he knew it all he saw was black.

 _What happened?! Could humans fly?_

*tap*

He laid still as the tapping grew louder.

*tap tap tap*

Groaning he turned his head slowly to face the source of the tapping—the kid.

They grinned as they heard something in their ear and turned to look at him; he just blinked as they held up a piece of paper, on which crayon words were crudely, but moderately legibly, written.

((Are you dying? Your brother is worried))

He grinned "you'll have to try harder than that to get rid of me."

The kid just looked at him with closed eyes.

"what? Are you afraid I'm going to disappear if you don't keep an eyesocket on me?"

…

"Huuuumaan! I brought you food!" A loud voice announced as its owner waltzed into the room with a paper cone full of fries before glancing in his general direction and dropping it.

"Sans! You're awake!" Papyrus dashed toward his bed before remembering that his brother was hurt and instead of wrapping him in a bear hug, just sat on the edge of the bed and awkwardly hugged the blanket pile on top of him. "I was-

 _Tears, oh no…_

 _Your brother is worried. Your brother is worried. Your brother is worried._

 _Oh man, how long had he been out? It couldn't have been more than a day… right?_

He slowly sat up and patted the taller skeleton on the shoulder, or rather his puffy shoulder guard, before pushing aside the blanket pile.

Gritting his teeth, he stood up and managed to make it to the doorframe before turning back and calling out "don't worry, i'm fine! I'm going back to my room to sleep some more. Tell Grillbz thanks for letting me crash here!"

"Sans, wait!" Papyrus rushed to the hallway only to be greeted by a blue flash.

A matching flash in a small room and from it appeared a small skeletal figure who crashed onto the bedside rug.

Excruciating pain tore down the world all around as he succumbed to the crippling agony and collapsed.

 _Bad idea._

Teeth aching from grinding together, he just managed to turn the key in the door with a wisp of red before another spasm of pain caused his vision to go white.

 _Crack._

~O*O~

"I'm sorry human," Papyrus sighed as he gathered the blankets from Sans's bed into a large basket, "I guess I was being worried for nothing, it seems as if he's back to his regular old lazy self!"

((Do you need help with the laundry?)) Frisk held up the paper with one hand as they reached for another fry from the cone hovering a few inches above their blanket.

"No, this is nothing for The Great Papyrus to handle!" He grinned triumphantly after managing to pile all the blankets haphazardly into the basket "I should probably go home and make him some food though, I know Sans **loves** my Famous Spaghetti!"

Frisk glanced to their left curiously before scribbling furiously ((Can I go too?))

Papyrus tucked rested the overflowing basket on their hip before rubbing his chin with a gloved hand in consideration. "Alright! We can have a sleepover or something until… hmm? Nevermind. Gather you stuff and let's go!"

They grinned happily and leaned over the edge of the bed to pull out their backpack and stuffed their new crayons in a pocket before shouldering it.

"All set?" Papyrus called excitedly before tucking the basket under one arm and the human under the other "Then let's go!"

Chara stepped onto the rim of the basket, using it to boost themself onto the taller skeleton's shoulder. He didn't even notice, perhaps being semi-alive had its benefits after all.

"I'm taking the human home to try some of my Famous Spaghetti!" Papyrus called over his shoulder at the strange fire monster and Frisk peeked over Papyrus's shoulder to sign in his direction as they left "Thank you."

Perhaps that was all they knew.

The frigid air stung their nose as they swung their legs happily.

It was time to figure out what the comedian was hiding, they doubted it would be very funny.

* * *

(notes)

Looks like someone is having a pretty bad time, and someone else is back in the game ;)

I'm just imagining kids hanging off of Papyrus like he's a jungle gym, lol

He brought like all the blankets in the house over to Grillby's, hehe

Oh! About the soot drawings, search it up, it's actually really cool! Artists draw with candles and stuff to make pictures in soot!

I just rewatched every single episode of SVTFOE and I love them so much :3 Can't wait for the season 2 finale 3

Oh! I also made a book! I bound the pages myself to make the textblock and added a cover and everything! :D (if you're curious, just search up a tutorial in youtube :)

I think that earth is a pretty great place~

~PhysikLily UwU


	35. Chapter 35: Spaghetti

**Chapter 35: Spaghetti**

Chara jumped down from the tall skeleton's shoulder when he bent down to set the laundry basket on the floor—barely missing falling into the pile of blankets by a hair—and looked around.

The house itself wasn't small, it was actually quite a bit larger than their old house, but it still felt homely and well lived in even though the floors were almost spotless.

They glanced at the blue and purple zig-zag carpeting and raised their eyebrows at the horrible color clashing of a sap green sofa, the bone picture on the wall was horrendous, and WHY was there a rock covered in sprinkles on the table?!

The tall dude set Frisk onto the sofa and picked up the basket again.

"Make yourself at home, human! Do not worry, I The Great Papyrus will be right back!" He called over his shoulder before descending down a flight of stairs "I just need to get this laundry started!"

Frisk sat up, staying still and motionless for so long Chara thought they fell asleep. They rolled their eyes at the sound of towels being flung into metal from downstairs and looked around some more.

A sock with some sticky notes piled on it, a door upstairs with caution tape across its width, and another door with flashing lights showing from under it- wait what?

"Hey, do you-

Frisk was gone.

"Where did you…"

They trailed off as they spotted a familiar flash of light blue and magenta making its way toward the stairs to the second floor.

"How did you know there were stairs?" Chara hissed as they dashed after their ward

Frisk turned to them and put a finger to their lips.

They raised an eyebrow and followed but this time making no sound.

The shorter child put an ear to the door with flashing lights coming out of it and frowned for a bit before widening their eyes.

Chara glanced at them curiously before pushing the kid aside lightly with a shoulder and quietly turning the doorknob. It didn't budge. "Locked" They whispered.

Frisk sat down with a slight wince and took out their slightly water damaged notebook. ((Someone is using magic in there. Sans? He left without warning… He lied))

"I thought so" Chara hissed, narrowing their eyes, "step aside, I'm getting in there."

 _What secrets are you keeping comedian? Are you a bounty hunter?_

"Human? HUMAN?!"

Frisk jumped a little and tumbled off the ledge of the second story- Chara leapt into the air only to blink in surprise at the sight of their ward being held by the armpits by the tall skeleton. There was however a faint wisp of orange around them. _Magic. How interesting._

They landed in a crouch and stalked off toward the kitchen… they would need tools.

 _Knives. Hmmm._ They tested one on their finger. No blood. _Dull._

They opened another drawer. _An ice pick! Perfect._ Taking the sharp pointed metal piece in one hand they dashed back out of the room and back up the stairs to resume operations. _They were going to get into that room._

~O*O~

"That was a close one! You would've been human bolognaise if The Great Papyrus hadn't saved you!"

They smiled and mouthed 'thank you.'

"No problem, human!" Papyrus grinned "Are you hungry?"

They nodded.

"We can make spaghetti!" He grinned so hard his cheeks hurt… or they would have if he had cheeks "Let's go to the kitchen, the place of amazing spaghetti creation!"

He took out a box of angel hair pasta, a few snow tomatoes, and cheese before opening a drawer to find an apron.

"Want to help The Masterchef cook?" Papyrus handed them the apron and was surprised with the speed they tied the strings… perhaps they could learn how to make Sans _like_ the spaghetti. "Hey, would you like to-

 _No. Not now, not in front of the human! I-_

 _Sans, what if he's not okay? What if Grillby lied, what if he dissipated into dust somewhere and I will never see him again? What if I poisoned Sans with his spaghetti? He made that weird face when he ate it! What if I used nightshade by accident or holly instead of tomatoes? Whatifhewasn'tokay?Whatifhewasn'tcomingbackandwasgoneforever?What-_

Frisk tapped the skeleton on what was probably his head as he sat curled up in a ball.

They stepped off of the stool they had been standing on and bent down to give Papyrus a hug before putting a finger to their lips and taking out their notebook.

((Hey, don't cry :) We'll make some spaghetti that's so good he'll have to eat it and get all better!))

"Really?" He sniffled

((Yeah! But I can't do it alone! Cooking is a two person task! With the help of THE GREAT PAPYRUS I'm sure I can make something amazing!))

"O-Okay"

*Insert cooking montage* (jk)

((Fill a pot half full of water and put it on high heat, then hand me a knife))

"You sure only half a pot of water? Undyne says you should always push it to the max!" Papyrus raised an eyebrow dubiously as he did what was asked.

((If we fill it up all the way now, when we add the pasta it'll overflow!)) They giggled as they chopped tomatoes.

((Okay, now stir the pot so the spaghetti won't- wait! Take the box out of the pot!))

((No! Don't smash the tomatoes into pulp! We want the juice in the pot no on the wall!))

((Wait! Only a few basil leaves! Not the whole thing!))

*End cooking montage*

"Wow! It doesn't smell like cardboard!" Papyrus noted as he ladled sauce onto three steaming plates of cooked spaghetti—four at Frisk's request.

((It might be because we didn't add cardboard)) Frisk groaned and sat down on the floor, leaning against a cabinet. That had been tougher than they had expected, especially since they could only figure out what Papyrus was doing by the overpowering smell of spices or pulp hitting their face.

He carried a plate upstairs and set it in front of Sans' door before setting the others down on a long table after scooting the plate containing the pet rock toward the wall.

((The smell will definitely cause him to come out)) Frisk yawned as the two began to converse about food and cooking, such as: "Do you really not add the packaging when you bake?"

Chara shoveled the spaghetti into their mouth, managing to mumble "Oh man this is good" before dashing back upstairs to keep working.

Papyrus washed the dishes, tucked in the sleeping human, then closed the lights with a slight smile.

Sometime in the long hours after the sun had gone to bed, a lock unclicked and a door opened with a creak.

* * *

(notes)

Oh man I wasn't actually planning on having a problem uncovered this early but then I was like why not?

Do you even put basil in spaghetti? Idk man, I'm better at baking than cooking x-x

I seem to have made Frisk wise beyond their years, maybe they're older and just short? :^

I don't know if I'm writing the skelebros right… I try.

Sorry if you don't like basements, all houses have basements for additional structural support and even if they don't, in this universe they do.

Fandom tidbit: Have you guys watched the season finale of Star vs the Forces of Evil?! Like wholly shiz?

Also, I watched Eddsworld since someone made me curious? It was pretty cute for a short lil series though the first episodes were a pain to watch x-x (my fav is Tom, his black soulless eyes are interesting)

Moon and Toffee? What's up with that?

~PhysikLily UwU


	36. Chapter 36: Subject 53

**Chapter 36: Subject 53**

 _The light was lit and the door unlocked in a swift motion as the two monsters descended into the basement. Uneven stones became briefly highlighted with a cool light as the light descended deeper._

 _The lever was pulled and lights flickered before switching on with an electric hum; the light was set down and the two monsters nodded at each other before each taking a side of the room and began gazing at the small monitors._

 _Both of them frowned almost immediately at the sight of several blinking triangles marring the field of green digits. They turned to each other and shared a brief look before glancing at the monitors and selecting a small button in the corner of each screen._

 _This process was repeated to several monitors and as the cylinders began to slide down into the floor, the glass ball rolled toward a hole where one of them had stood._

 _Dashing forward, one of the monsters managed to grab it with a tail just before it plummeted into the gap in the floor. The monster huffed and held up the orb as if to certify the fact that it was safe only to frown. They brought the orb closer to their face and narrowed their eyes._

" _What is it?"_

 _A small crack glimmered on the once smooth and transparent surface; before the monster's eyes the cracks spread in glistening spidery lines as they skated across the clear surface._

 _*Crick*_

 _The monster's eyes widened as the orb began to glow just as they pushed away the other and in a heartbeat the glass shattered launching shards across the room—well, those which didn't cut through the body of the first monster._

 _A bright flash of white was followed shortly by a huge explosion as several nearby cylinders exploded sending waves of liquid flowing over the ground seeping into cloth and winding around glass until it met another pool and was tainted pink._

" _This is bad."_

 _A monster pushed themselves off the floor and headed toward the wreckage where the other lay. Liquid which slowly stopped pouring out of the cracked cylinders darkened a stained lab coat. He could see the ground beneath their stomach and trails of crimson flowed from there outward until they diffused into the liquid on the floor._

 _He bent down to pick them up only to blink in surprise as he turned to look at where his tail had once been, perhaps shrapnel had sliced it off for he left a trail of blood behind himself as he walked around the other monster._

" _Can you walk?"_

 _They coughed and blood rushed out of their mouth as they looked up at him._

" _It's doubtful"_

 _Keys jangled from above and a door creaked open. Light footsteps._

" _We are in trouble"_

 _*Cough* "Yeah"_

 _A light blue glow flickered into view as footsteps descended the final steps into the room._

 _Hollow eyes widened and lit up in rings of fire before he rushed forward._

" _What happened?!"_

 _*Cough* "When the lightsources are damaged, trait essence causes them to combust. Give Doctor the information, he can fix the flaw"_

 _The monster glanced down as themself as their feet and body dissipated before closing their eyes._

 _The other monster glanced down at the dust which had begun to dissolve into the liquid soaking everything and a cold feeling froze their chest. It hurt. It hurt more than their tail. Water blurred their vision, what was this?_

" _There was an explosion, one turned to dust, the other is wounded, and some of the germination chambers were damaged." The newly arrived monster reported over a slim headset._

"…" _Silence over the return signal "Kill the survivor, he'll be nonfunctioning. Clean up what you can, I need to grab some materials I'll be back." Then only static._

 _A sharp bone needle pierced the monster's soul dusting him immediately before the newcomer grabbed a mop from a closet._

 _The liquid on the floor swirled as it dripped into cracks and crevices mixing the two small piles of dust into one._

 _Sighing, the monster pulled the headset off his head and let it rest around his neck as he started on the other side of the room._

 _~O*O~_

 _The taller figure touched a crack on the left side of his face and sighed as he blew on the surface of the steaming liquid to cool it down. Holding the bamboo tea cup with both hands, he gazed over the field of vibrant flowers as sunlight, or rather warm light, shone down from above. He hadn't been here in a while but it was still beautiful, all of the flower populations were in balance with each other under the artificial sunlight of the barrier undisturbed by humans or monsters._

 _The light warmed his shoulders and he allowed a small smile before taking a sip of the tea. It was steaming but nice, rose and lotus his favorite._

 _Rolling his eyes in different directions behind closed eyelids he watched the colors dance and spin before merging together._

 _Subject 20 and 21 were gone, they had been his most successful creations though they lacked the will to do things on their own, they lacked drive, they lacked… determination. Subject 20 had been better than 21 with a hint of perseverance but it had been too passive, not proactive._

 _No matter what happened, time was running out and though he did need new lab assistants number 53 was doing quite well._

 _He finished the cup and set the cup down on the overgrown stone before smiling and pushing himself off of the stone pillar as air rushed upward all around him. The cup got smaller before disappearing from view and his lab coat flapped wildly before he landed with a small *Tup* on both feet, wisps of yellow and orange disappearing as fast as they had blinked into existence._

 _A small fluffy bee buzzed past slowly before settling on a stalk of lavender and he dispelled the interest of the carefree creature before looking up at the sunlit barrier with *aspiration and thoughtfulness._

 _It was time to begin the replacement._

 _~O*O~_

 _The monster smiled sadly as he tied the two dusty red scarves together before looping them around an inner bough of a pine tree. Snow fluttered down as he concentrated on creating a perfect fallen knot._

" _Sans" The voice over the headset startled the small monster causing them to fall a couple of stories before catching himself in a cloud of cyan and red_

" _Yeah?"_

" _It's time"_

"… _Coming."_

 _The two scarves fluttered softly from their spot near the trunk, sheltered from the majority of the weather as snow began to fall speckling the crimson cloth._

 _A small figure's lab coat was highlighted by wisps of disappearing color as he glanced at the snow dusted evergreen one last time before letting the cloud of color consume him._

 _A red scarf flapped furiously in the wind before vanishing with a soft pop._

* * *

(notes)

Heh, I absolutely love describing the sensation of falling, after all it's rather like flying :)

More divergence~ Yay :D

*definition- aspiration- hope or ambition of achieving something (but what does he want to achieve?)

The two monsters who 'fell down' were supposed to be twins? Idk

Why are all my pens alcohol based? X-x

~PhysikLily UwU


	37. Chapter 37: Converge

**Chapter 37: Converge**

They sniffed the air as they stepped onto the frosted snow. *Crik* The hardened layer of untrodden snow crunched satisfyingly underfoot—they placed their foot down on a new patch and smiled at the sound.

"Come on, let's go- "Chara grumbled as they stepped outside into the weak sunlight *Sniff* "Oh man that smells good."

Frisk nodded in agreement, the air was slightly scented with a warm sweet smell, it felt familiar… cinnamon!

 _That way!_ Frisk pointed and glanced in Chara's direction expectantly; grabbing their hand Chara grinned and sprinted toward the smell.

*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*

Papyrus closed the door with a soft click and glanced around with narrowed eyes, putting a hand up to block the sunlight. _Now where did the human go?_

"Hello Papyrus" A firm grip on his shoulder "Feel like filling me in?"

~O*O~

"It's coming from here!" Chara stopped walking and turned toward the small building, a wooden sign declaring "Shop" matched the rest of the snow-covered cabin quite well; the smell wafted from one half of the log shaped building which was composed of two small houses joined together—the other half was labeled "Inn."

The area seemed quiet enough… "Frisk, what do you- Frisk!"

Their ward waved at them from the doorway before grinning and disappearing into the shop; hissing in frustration, they followed.

The sweet, mouthwatering scent of buttery pastries intermingled with soft spices rushed toward them as soon as they entered the warm room and enveloped the slightly chilled child in a cloud of warmth.

"Hello Traveller. How can I help you?" A slightly surprised but nevertheless warm voice greeted them.

Frisk began to dig out their notebook when Chara opened the door, letting in a gust of cold air, and stood beside them, looking around.

"We'll have two of whatever's baking" They studied the details that met their glance: a young full figured monster with lavender fur stood behind a small counter, a couple of tall stools were pulled close to the wooden counter, a scroll on the wall was stamped with the royal insignia and it gleamed in the golden candlelight, a sturdy locked chest rested on a counter behind the monster, above on the wall small shelves held books and bottles, nothing of value.

"Hmm? Sure thing!" She turned around and picked up an oven mitt before opening the door of a small oven and taking out a spatula "it's been decades since I've seen a fresh face around here! So where did you come from? The Capital? You don't look like a tourist, are you here by yourself?"

Frisk shook their head before reaching into a pocket for a pen—Chara put a hand on their arm. "Wait" a whisper.

"I'm just passing through you know, I got bored of life back home and decided it was time for some adventure, you know, a bit like cabin fever?" Chara drawled casually before stepping forward and taking the gooey pastries by their wax paper wrappings, cinnamon rolls.

They stepped back to hand one to Frisk by its wax paper wrapper before placing a couple coins on the counter and taking a seat at a counter stool next to their ward.

"So, what can I do here in town?" They shifted on their stool so their feet tensed in a crouching position.

Frisk heard Chara shift and shrugged before biting into the warm flakey pastry, the buttery warm filling was filled with bursts of brown sugar and pecan pieces and the frosting had an oozing hint of sweet vanilla. It was delicious.

"Well Grillby's has food, the library has information, and if you're tired-…. And if you're bored you can sit around and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing."

Frisk smiled and gave the monster lady a thumbs up before glancing at Chara. _Why weren't they eating?_

"Thanks, but we have to go now, lots of sights to see you know?" They pulled Frisk after them "thanks a lot!"

The shorter child winced, their guide's grip was tight. As they turned back to give the nice lady a thank you gesture they felt a sharp sting on their neck but when they felt the area there was nothing. _Oww, what was that?_

"Come again!" The shopkeeper smiled as the door closed with the small chime of a hollow bell.

~O*O~

They passed the door to the inn, the other half of the store and Chara narrowed their eyes, there was no one there, the shop was dark. As they strode past a flicker of blue blinked into their peripheral vision and without turning their head they stole another well measured glance. Nothing.

((We forgot to get a cinnamon roll for Papyrus!)) Frisk pursed their lips into a pout as they scampered after Chara who was walking in long angry strides back in the direction from which they came.

"He can have mine." Chara shoved the pastry into their ward's hand before opening the door. "He's not in here, you can go find him."

Clutching the roll through the wax paper, they could feel heat still emanating from it. Alright, it was up to them to deliver this important parcel! Turning toward Grillby's as Chara closed the door they stumbled. Why were they lightheaded? Perhaps they had eaten too quickly, they smiled and walked slower, they would be alright.

Chara slid down the door into a sitting position and set their head onto their crossed arms. They needed to think.

 _Step one. Compile the facts you have:_

 _The younger skeleton is dangerous and skilled with magic._

 _The older skeleton is soft at heart but also has ambition._

 _The whole town seems empty for a settlement this size._

 _The lady in the shop seemed different, overly determined, there was something they were missing._

 _Step two. Form hypotheses:_

 _The younger skeleton is hiding something, something… dangerous, something he hides from even his brother._

 _The elder has a mental state which is too young for his body size. No. This one was true, they could tell by the way he acted._

 _They thought the lady was trying to poison Frisk, but they hadn't shown any reaction when eating the cinnamon roll. Strong poisons usually had strong tastes… at least the ones monsters knew about. Nevertheless, if it was slow acting they could figure out where to get the antidote, what they couldn't figure out was the motive. Why?_

 _They were missing something._

*Crash*

Something fell behind the house, narrowing their eyes, Chara headed toward the sound.

 _A shed. How strange._

 _*babump* *babump* *babump*_

They twisted the handle. _Locked._

Putting an ear to the door they grinned, no buzz of magic, their specialty.

As they predicted it only took a few seconds to wiggle the lock open, pocketing the hairclip they opened the door with a creak.

*babump* *babump* *babump*

*thump*

Something far away fell with a crash.

"HUUMAANN!" A shriek cut through the air.

*BABUMP* *BABUMP* *BABUMP* *BABUMP*

Their eyes widened,

And

Spinning around,

They ran.

* * *

(notes)

I was dreading writing this chapter but in the end it turned out way more fun than I expected.

I should really plan out my thoughts before I start typing, but when my mind wanders I come up with a lot of interesting plot twists… :0

Dectective Chara is in the house.

Oh man writing this made me hungry for cinnamon rolls. X-x

My last tournament this year is next Saturday, whoohoo!

I watched a couple of low-level animes and am just fed up with the amount of fanservice, like come on, guys! If your show is good you shouldn't need that! :[

I've been trying to drink the daily recommended amount of water lately and I never realized how much water it was, lol :p

*Pulls out magnifying glass* But it's not the time for answers yet!~

(oh man I feel myself succumbing to author madness)  
~PhysikLily UwU


	38. Chapter 38: Strychnine

**Chapter 38:** **Strychnine**

 _(A/N: Descriptions of poisoning? Hehehe, just a warning)_

Chara dashed down the stairs, over the wooden floor, and caught themself on the doorframe using their momentum to change direction and swing into the room. The same room which Frisk had been taken to before.

There had been a crowd of monsters talking in hushed whispers out in the main room and even a small group had gathered around the bed fussing with blankets and such.

They crossed the room quickly taking note of each of the other monster's faces before placing a palm to their forehead and the other to their ward's.

Frisk looked horrible and they were burning up. At their touch, Frisk's eyes snapped open; the brown irises glowed in the candlelight but their eyes widened allowing a circle of white to show all around them as they focused on nothing in particular. Their lips parted slightly to mouth something before their face contorted in pain and panted, taking in shuddering breaths.

"Should I give them water?" a monster in the room lifted up a pitcher off of a small dresser.

"I don't see why not." Another smaller monster shrugged as they dug through a small cardboard box full of tiny packets.

Chara bit their lip hard enough to draw blood and put a hand to the side of Frisk's face and another to their arm only to draw them back quickly as their ward flinched and let out a silent scream. They narrowed their eyes as the first monster picked up a ceramic cup and began to move toward the bed. Ripping it from her grip they chucked the cup through the door into the hallway and grinned as the pitcher followed, smashing into hundreds of glistening pieces before sliding down the wall.

"W-What the…?" The small round monster had a single eye which widened in fear at the lightning fast and seemingly random occurrence before turning to the taller one who had stopped rummaging through the box to return a look of bewilderment.

"Don't give them water" Chara hissed before snatching the box out of the taller monster's hands, replacing the lid, and shoving it into a drawer of the dresser.

"Did you just…?" The mint colored monster was fully spooked as she ran from the room, carefully skirting past the broken glass, to fetch help and something to clean up the mess—the smaller one eyed monster glanced around fearfully before sprinting after the first one.

Frisk's eyes snapped open as their small frame shuddered in a painful spasm. _Why was it so hard to breathe? What had happened to them? Ahhhhgg it hurt._

"Hold on." Chara whispered as they passed a hand over their eyes and Frisk's "I'll be right back."

They dashed back through the hall, jumping reflexively over the puddle of glass and up the stairs. If their suspicions were true, then at least fifteen minutes had passed since the introduction of the poison so it was in their ward's best interest to remove it from their system as soon as possible—within fifteen minutes… before a total of thirty had passed. They recognized the symptoms of strychnine poisoning but the nasty stuff was intensely bitter so there was no way that it had been hidden in the pastry, it could only have been injected… had the human not noticed? Perhaps they had and simply dismissed the possibility?

Fortunately, the dosage did not seem to be lethal otherwise the symptoms would have been much worse or even deadly. Either way they needed to find a way to remove the poison or permanent nerve damage could occur.

Even if they knew a healer with high skill, magic didn't work on poison, they weren't sure why but when they had asked mom she explained something complicated… something to do with a physical form?

Tannins could help unfortunately all the trees around here seemed to be evergreens not oaks or hardwoods… there was that small corridor of trees near the exit to the ruins but there was no way they could possibly run there and back in less than fifteen minutes not to mention that they didn't even know what type of tree they were.

The best solution? Activated charcoal of course, with such a large surface area it could absorb up to 60% of toxins with ease; most monsters however lacked the skill and precision needed to hold fire magic in a constant temperature long enough to transform wood into it and even then they still needed to find hardwood or dried plant matter to burn.

They needed a monster who could teleport basically and control fire magic. If only mom was here she could at least solve the fire part… it was unlikely… but possible.

As they scanned the room quickly their eyes lit on Grillby before sighing: just because he was made of fire didn't mean he had fire magic, in fact the flame elementals she knew were only skilled in light magic. The canine monsters were known for physical combat and she didn't even recognize some of the species, this was taking too long, they-

The door burst open with a slam causing them to whirl around.

"Huff, huff, W-Where is the human?"

Grillby seemed to flicker with worry before pointing downstairs.

A spark of red flashed past their eyes as they stood there in confusion before lips curled into a smile and they dashed after him.

"W-what happened to you? Human, I... I was…" Papyrus whispered in a shaky voice before collapsing onto weak knees, tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes and as they overflowed a banshee like shriek filled the air.

They cursed and dashed forward slapping both hands over his mouth.

"Shhh," Chara focused, they needed to concentrate. They needed to convince him to help… if their intuition was correct, Papyrus knew someone who could help—the task was convincing him to. "they'll be okay if you calm down and listen to me, crying isn't going to help anything."

"I… I came here to defeat the human… Undyne said it was for the good of monsterkind b-but now I don't know what I can even do. I-I t-thought-" his shoulders shook with quaking sobs.  
"

The taller monster looked up at them and took a couple of deep shuddering breaths at the blurry sight of a small child in a light green sweater before swiping furiously at their face and wrinkling their brow in determination. "W-What should I do, Chara?"

Opening their mouth in astonishment, the corner of their mouth curled up in amusement. _How interesting._

Bending over, they cupped both hands over his ear, or where an ear would normally be, and began to whisper.

~O*O~

He appeared with a small pop and a wisp of blue, bending over the small figure he let the wide smile which had spread rapidly across his face subside.

 _This was not planned… however, why should an opportunity such as this go to waste?_

A small jet of light blue flame tipped with a mellow yellow popped up on the tip of a single skeletal finger; frowning he concentrated on pushing out the yellow until it only made up a small portion of the flame.

"Sans!" The door burst open as Papyrus rushed in and the smaller skeleton pasted on a smile as he quickly extinguished the fire. "The human! I-"

Chara folded their arms across their chest as they listened.

Surprisingly it didn't take as long as they had anticipated before they heard a small sigh "Of course bro."

A smile spread across their face until they couldn't help but laugh. Slapping a hand over their mouth they slumped against the wall in a relieved heap.

Perhaps they had been wrong about which of the skeleton brothers was older, Papyrus kind of reminded them of Azzie. They yawned, their limbs felt like lead. It had been a bad idea… staying up all night to trying to break into his magically locked room. It had only been around ten minutes… still… they should stay up until he finished the task… z z z

~O*O~

An ancient door groaned in protest as it was pushed open easily and again as it closed, this time slowly.

It had taken longer than she thought to organize everything; nevertheless, it was time to say goodbye to the ruins after so long.

Bitter wind bit at her ears throwing them into the air as small pellets of snow stung her face. She could use fire magic to warm herself but she didn't bother. Turning into the wind she turned to face the blustering skies with a slight chuckle.

So it was finally happening.

Clutching the small metal pendant around her neck she started forward.

* * *

(notes)

Hehe, I tried steering the story in a new direction since I was getting bored of the same old same old pacifist timeline.

I'm not sure if this is even UT anymore but some AUs are really weird so I suppose it's okay :/

Yeah I know, I need to do some character studies on the skelebros.

Looks like someone can see our second kid, I wonder how that works?

Strychnine is a real poison (I would include a link to more information for you guys but ff doesn't allow links to anything other than its own domain, it sucks I know :( but I did spend a _long_ time searching up different poisons and treatments.

Tannins are these weird things that can be found in hardwood trees, oaks especially, and brewed out of them. They're supposed to help poisoning?

Oh! But this activated charcoal stuff (not to be confused with normal ashes) are a real gem. Apparently the stuff has a natural ability to absorb toxins and the like **and** it's still used in the ER when people come in poisoned! I really recommend searching it up, I want to keep some in my house perhaps as emergency first aid? :0

I honestly am the happiest when I can include real science-y things in my stories, it makes me feel like I'm spreading knowledge! :]

I thought about poisoning the cinnamon roll but that would force a reset wouldn't it? :0

~PhysikLily UwU


	39. Chapter 39: Torschlusspanik

**Chapter 39: Torschlusspanik**

A heavy feeling clutches within as a gnarled hand of an unexplainable feeling wraps around a beating heart—your beating heart. Take a couple of deep breaths, watch your chest expand and puff up before deflating and returning to its normal position, and count: one, two, three… four. This bizarre, alleviating exercise you're executing is asinine. Nothing is wrong.

Wood boards creak underfoot as bare feet dash swiftly over freezing winter floors. "Going somewhere young child?"

Shutters rattle and night winds howl though the walls muffle the midnight whispers you still hear them crooning. "Up past the sun? Up past the light? Oh, why's the child burning midnight oil under the vigil of the moon?"

The hinges of a rusted metal door screech in protest but even this seems akin to light rumblings to them. "Child, go to sleep. They slumber for eternity in their cocoons of internal melody. Why don't you dance to vincinal heart beats and listen solely to your sole needs?"

A simple small smile is all that graces your face as the frigid wind kisses your cheeks; snow crunches softly but crisply underfoot while lofty bright pinpricks are stabbed through darkness.

"Open your eyes and you can see like us, act like us, think like us, and live the way we live." Nevertheless, you refuse. The whispers on a quiet breeze, the rustling of brittle leaves spiraling down from great trees, and the burbling of a quiet brook as cicadas hum and feel the sun; instead, are the truths you would prefer to feel in your heart.

Now you stand at a locked door in the dead of night; snow is drifting down in a soft haze wondering why you don't take flight.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

One by one frozen locks drop to the ground with a soft poff reaching out a hand you nudge the door ajar before your eyes widen and open—and the night sky shatters.

! kn0w y0u mu2t f331 the unp1342ant 23n24t!0n 0f t0r2(h1u22p4n!k, h0w3v3r th!2 !2 n0t y0ur r0l3, (h!1d.

* * *

(notes)

Last week real life stuff went down and I decided to take a break :p

Torschlusspanik- The feeling that time is running out to accomplish something

Honestly I just wanted to try something fun with the writing style again but honestly this takes too long to write x-x (also it was half an assignment lol)

I searched up weird words for this, it's really fun! One of my favorites was Ilinx or "the urge to shatter something delicate" we need more wordsssss :D

Imma take up gardening this summer for fun and experience! :0

I love youtube on april fools 3

~PhysikLily UwU


	40. Chapter 40: Recount

**Chapter 40: Recount**

Chara blinked as they watched their fingers solidify, when had they disappeared? Turning to look down toward the first floor their eyes widened briefly at the sight of soft morning light streaming through the small first floor window. It was already dawn.

Last night they had rummaged around in the kitchen after the sun fell to find supplies for a better weapon when they heard the soft padding of footsteps descending stairs. Grabbing a ladle, they climbed onto the top of the counter and stepped across it lithely before peeking around the wall to see if someone was up.

And there _had_ been someone or something walking down the steps and toward the door but as soon as they tried to think about it the thoughts fled, like aluminum powder away from a magnet, when they concentrated harder the thoughts were harder and harder to focus on so they simply stood poised to attack until the feeling faded.

Turning back cautiously to the drawers they resumed rummaging with a renewed vigor: spoons, ladles, strainers, pots, chopsticks? Where were the knives? Why weren't there any forks? He made spaghetti for heaven's sake.

Closing the last drawer, they turned toward the strangely tall sink and shrugged, why not? As soon as they pulled open the latch they groaned at the sight of mounds of bones, as they tried to close the door a couple skittered off the piles and onto the floor. They bent down, picked up a humerus and a couple rib bones before flinching and quickly shoving them under the sink—a chest-tightening feeling of unease had gripped them as soon as they touched the cool smooth surface for some reason they couldn't name—not that they would have used them as weapons anyways, messing with bones of the dead was disrespectful and they preferred slashing damage to bludgeoning. Shaking their head, they gave climbing the sink cabinet a couple of shots before giving up and shimmying back down—why was the sink so high when they actually needed it?

They glanced at the garbage can hosting a few empty pasta boxes before turning toward the fridge—it was worth a shot, and maybe they had chocolate?

"Whhhyyy." They had groaned at the sight of containers upon containers upon containers of spaghetti, the blue lidded Tupperware was stacked neatly filling every square inch of the fridge; nevertheless, they checked the freezer and lo behold, more spaghetti. They had been about to give up they were so done but something prompted them to stretch up on their tiptoes and catch sight of a thin dark shape poking out from above several containers.

Stretching up to use the handle as a foothold they…

Then the world sort of just spun as they had cursed they watched their fingers disappeared.

Chara shook their head and narrowed their eyes if that had been last night then…

Opening Papyrus' door they were surprised to see the racecar bed neatly made before hearing soft whistling downstairs. _An early bird huh?_ The cardboard box, which had once held bones and was now stuffed with bedding while the bones were neatly stacked in the corner, which Papyrus had prepared for Frisk to sleep in was also empty. _Where were they?_

They dashed downstairs and were halfway out the door before Papyrus called out.

"HELLO CHARA!" He poked his head out of the kitchen "Would you like some breakfast before you go?"

"Mmmm…" They took a deep breath and smiled lightly at the obscure sight of a tall skeleton in a frilly red apron "Alright, what did you make?"

Following him into the kitchen they raised an eyebrow at the floury mess covering the counters and floor before spotting the slightly brown plate of spiral rolls dotted with dark patches—whatever it was, it smelled great.

"Behold! Blueberry rolls!" He declared as she reached over and snagged one off the top of the pile and took a bite "The shopkeeper showed me how to make them!"

They nearly spat out the bite as their eyes widened, "Who?"

"You know, the lavender bunny lady who owns across town? Frisk mentioned how good they were so I wanted to try for myself," Papyrus reached over and took a bite of a roll before watching their face "you know, I'm quite a cook."

Swallowing, Chara forced a smile and took a deep breath of relief before reaching up and grabbing a couple more off the plate "They're fantastic, but next time give em three minutes less in the oven." They called as they pushed open the front door with a hip.

"Nyehehe! Thanks Chara!"

As they closed the door, they felt eyes on them and glanced up to see a short figure on the second floor watching them. Pausing they allowed the corner of their mouth to curl upward before closing the door though if the shorter skeleton saw them, he gave no indication.

"Sans! Wake up lazybones! I made breakfast!"

Handing a bunny monster they passed a roll, Chara glanced around town before nodding to themself and heading behind the house.

The mastermind wouldn't dare to poison half the population, they weren't stupid, Chara grinned as they took another bite of the roll; despite being a tad burnt on the bottom, the roll was actually pretty good and the warm blueberries were delicious.

They found Frisk where they predicted and shook them awake before shoving a warm roll in their hands.

Placing a palm on the door of the shed they nodded in expectation at the new hum in the air—it looks like someone had discovered their sluthing.

"Let's go back inside" They ignored their ward's confused look and pointed to the half-eaten roll "Papyrus made that, you should compliment it, he's really proud."

They had gotten one look and that look was enough, something grey wobbled inside of a glass canister as something large hummed in the corner covered by a tarp. A recent, translucent stain on the floor trapped a small slashed yellow petal… someone or something had been here recently and now a force was keeping them out.

Turning back toward the house with Frisk in tow, Chara felt a smile widen across their face—looks like things just kept getting deeper and deeper.

* * *

(notes)

I took some time today to plan out some more backstory and change a bit of lore so that should be relatively stable but the present events are still being made up as we go, hehe O-O;

I've changed around the skelebro kitchen a bit so I could insert a Chara-acting-like-a-ninja scene for fun

Should Frisk probably have frostnip again? Yes… but we've already covered that so let's just say their determination kept them warm! Filling up plot holes with bad patching, yep!

I like the idea of Papyrus slowly learning to cook edible food, it's just so cute :)

I've been really interested in stationery recently for some reason? (like pens, and page flags, and planners?)

I planted some pepper seeds in a lil jiffy greenhouse thing and we got our first sprouts! :D

I would talk about the airplane incident but a lot of people have already covered it in videos so all I'll say is that it was wrong.

I feel like a worried plant mother now just wait until I have kids x-x

~PhysikLily UwU


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